Academy of the Good Shepherd

Heading West!

2011-05-28T10:57:00.000-04:00

Sorry to be away for so long! We've been busy with the usual - track, dance recitals, trying to finish up school even though the beautiful outdoors call us, etc. I've been planning two big events - next year's school (which will be an upcoming LONG post), and our big trip out west.

We're all very excited to be heading to Colorado where my husband's sister lives. We'll be camping so that makes it even more fun. Our trip will involve a stay in South Dakota, a stay in Colorado and a stay in Indiana with lots of driving in between! I've recently discovered that there are bear alerts in Colorado so that adds a little discomfort to things. We camp every year, several times if possible, but we've never been in a situation where there are "bear alerts". Hopefully it's not as bad as it sounds!

The biggest part of the planning is figuring out what to pack in the way of food and clothing. The clothing will have to make it for two weeks (I'm hoping I find a Laundromat somewhere!) and the food will have to be purchased as we go. We'll take enough for the first week then find a grocery store.

Some things that will be different for us this time:

We usually take kayaks, a canoe, and bikes. None of those will be coming with us this time because they wont fit.
We usually camp for 4-7 days. This will be a 14 day trip.
We usually camp in sites with electricity. Our stay in Colorado will be non-electric.
We usually all stay in our one huge tent. The addition of PJ means Night Owl and maybe one of the other boys will be in a small pup tent.
The lack of electricity and space to pack will mean leaving behind some things we've grown accustomed to: the electric cooler, the coffee maker (horrors!) and the electric skillet. The coffee maker was the biggest worry, but we've discovered a wonderful invention - the "French Press coffee maker!

I think this will work best as a series of posts, one for camp menus, recipes, and packing lists, one for our itinerary and all the fun things we hope to do, and one for the camping tips we have learned over the years. I'll throw in a few pictures of previous camping trips to make it interesting. I'll post pictures when we return from this big adventure too!

Learning Styles 3

2011-04-30T08:20:00.002-04:00

This is the final post in this series. After Builder, I have 2 more kids to go, but since they are a three year old and a 4 month old, it's hard to determine their learning style! Actually, I'm finding it difficult to determine Builder's style. I'm mostly sure he's a 'hands on" kinda guy, but really, aren't most boys in 1st grade "hands on"? I know as a classroom teacher, at this age and into second grade, I taught most things using some form of hands on work in the beginning. Children at this age need something concrete in order to grasp concepts, especially in subjects like math.
That being said, Builder really is sort of an "extreme kinesthetic learner". He's always working on something with his hands, building with Legos or just taking "stuff" he finds around the house and coming up with new inventions for it. He's very creative and when I stop what I am doing to listen while he describes his newest invention or idea for an invention, I'm quite amazed at what he comes up with. He's a bit of a dreamer so logic isn't always involved in these inventions, but none the less his creativity never ceases to amaze me. I'm not sure he will always be so kinesthetic, but for now, he certainly fits in that category.

Disposition: Thinks / Creates, Invents (!)
Modality: Global
Style: Kinesthetic
Other: Very creative, sensitive to other's feelings, needs lots of activity

I see some of Builder in the descriptions of both the Thinks/Creates disposition and the Invents disposition.
Taking the two descriptions from Discover Your Child's Learning Style, this is what I come up with for Builder:
Creates mental images, idea oriented, preoccupied, imaginative, daydreams, questions, wonders, doodles, articulate with hands, invention oriented, concrete thinker, experiments, "hands on", technical, discovers, focused.

Regarding curriculum for a child like Builder, the first thing one might think of is a need for manipulatives. At least that was my first thought. But can you see where manipulatives might be a problem for Builder? True, there are math concepts that are more easily understood when the child can "feel" it in solid form so they are necessary at times. But Builder does not do well when manipulatives are available all the time. The problem is that instead of using the manipulatives to help him learn the math concept, he becomes so distracted with what he can build with them that he loses focus on what he is supposed to be learning! I've found that some work better than others. For example, when teaching Builder to add early on I had a choice between using an abacus or linking cubes. The abacus worked well. There were beads that he could slide over to add, or slide the other way to subtract. The linking cubes were not a good choice. Every time I looked away he would start building a gun, a cityscape, a house ... whatever popped into his mind. Add or subtract? What was that? So the abacus was and still is the math manipulative of choice.

So, with that in mind, here's what I'm using for Builder in First Grade-

Religion  -
Lap books work well! We are currently working on the Confession Faith Folder from Lapbooks for Catholics. Builder still has to focus on the lesson, but I actually let him do some of the cutting and folding while I read or talk to him about the day's concept. He is better able to attend when he is doing something with his hands. This was hard for me to get used to at first because I thought his fidgeting was a sign that he was not paying attention. I was wrong and in fact, it is more distracting for Builder to be still then to build something while he's listening to a book being read or instruction being given.
Builder also enjoys drawing so he will sometimes draw while I read to him from the Baltimore Catechism or stories of the saints.   He really enjoys learning about the saints and will readily narrate back to me what he has learned. The Once Upon a Time Saints books are our favorite for first grade.  Builder's memorization skills aren't too great so he struggles with the Baltimore Catechism memorization. I'd love to hear suggestions that might help with that. It's important though, so we keep plugging away at it.
I have yet to get out our Mass Kit to use with Builder but I think it is about time I did. We have the one from Our Father's House and it is quite beautiful. At first, Builder didn't seem mature enough and I didn't want him to use the materials improperly. I think now he is ready though, and I'm sure they will appeal to his hands on style of learning. This Mass kit will help him to understand the Mass, which will be especially important next year as he receives the sacraments of First Communion and Confirmation.

Math -
Builder does well with Abeka Arithmetic for the same reasons Jetter does. The lessons are short and to the point, the pages are colorful and inviting and the workbook style allows him to write directly into the book. I do have to pull out manipulatives on occasion, as I described above, but they are not the core of the program.

Language Arts -
Learning to read has been a struggle for Builder, but that has been the case for all the boys in this family, so far. By 4th grade it has all clicked though and they do fine. I'm hoping that Builder catches on a little sooner, but I'm not too worried about it.    Here again, manipulatives, when used a certain way, can be helpful. I use All About Spelling for both spelling and phonics instruction. All about Spelling has these wonderful letter tiles that I have attached magnets to the back of. They are arranged in alphabetical order along the top of a dry erase board. Builder can slide the tiles back and forth to "build" words. It sometimes works well. But, once again, here we have all these wonderful tiles that he can slide around! I've found it works better to transfer some of the tiles to a cookie sheet (I actually use this, but a plain cookie sheet would work too!) so he is limited in his choices.
Another thing that is working well for Builder is the Simply Charlotte Mason method of teaching reading.
In this method, sight words and phonics are combined. I tweek it a bit and use the All About Spelling program for the phonics portion. But the sight word part, described at this link, works really well for Builder. He likes the idea of putting the words he has learned on cards and then building sentences with them.

Writing -
Handwriting Without Tears was the first program I used for Builder. He loved the early stages when the children use wooden manipulatives to build the letters. (Surprise, surprise!) I was already using this program for Jetter and continued it for Builder. Now that Builder is in first grade and knows the formation of the letters, I'm not sure he really needs it anymore. I am now using a more traditional ball and stick font for him.   Neatness is always an issue since he wants to rush through and just get it done, but he physically, he is able to write well. I simple use the Startwrite Software I have to create copy work sheets for Builder to use to practice his handwriting.

Science -
Science is all about experiments this year. I'm using the kits from the Magic School Bus, along with the DVD's and Builder really enjoys it. We also still incorporate a lot of nature study and that is very hands on!

History -
Since Builder is only in first grade I am not using a formal history program for him. I'm allowing Builder's interests to dictate what we learn about. Right now, he is very interested in ancient history. We have many books on our shelves about ancient history so there are plenty of resources. We go on line as well. Here is a neat site I recently found with lots of hands on activities for the various historical time periods. This has become one of Builder's favorite sites.

That wraps it up for Builder. Now it's time to start planning for next year! Actually, I've already started that process. :) The posts in this series have helped me as I continue to plan. I'm reminded of my children's strengths and the areas they need to work on. I think that finishing a year with a recap of what they have been doing has been very beneficial in helping me to plan for the coming year.

Learning Styles 2

2011-04-17T06:57:00.002-04:00

My intention, while writing the first post about learning styles was to quickly jump into this second post about Jetter and Builder, but because their learning styles are different from the first two, and they are very different from each other, I've gotten bogged down in details. I will try to simplify a bit more here, while still being thorough.

Going with the same format at that first post but trying to simplify significantly, we move on to Jetter.

Disposition: Thinks / Creates (A bit of an "Inventor")
Modality: Visual Spatial Learner
Style: Global
Other: Introverted, excellent visual memory, ADHD tendencies, needs routine

A description of the Thinks / Creates disposition, according to Discover Your Child's Learning Style, is "Creates mental images, thinks in abstractions, enjoys being alone, open to new ideas, idea oriented, preoccupied, imaginative, daydreams, questions, wonders, doodles." Yep, that's Jetter! I could also put him in the "Inventor" disposition for some things.

Jetter is a strong VSL - Visual Spatial Learner. I find that he is a delight to teach, but I admit VSL learners do create challenges for teachers in schools. Some articles that will help you to understand a VSL are listed below. For Jetter, I will just try to summarize by saying academically, he does well with diagrams, maps, word mapping activities, sketch narrations and organizing by color. He is great at math concepts. Learning to read was a terrible struggle, but now that he is reading comfortably, he really enjoys it. He does not do well with curricula that are random. He needs things to be very organized for him because he doesn't do so great with organizing them himself. It would take pages for me to describe in detail the strengths and struggles that Jetter has in regards to learning. Instead I will refer you to these very informative links:
Visual Spatial Learners - Gifted Development
Helping the VSL - Harmony Art Mom Blog
I Think in Pictures, You Teach in Words
Soaring in School

Curriculum and learning strategies that work well for Jetter are as follows:

Religion - Bible History, Saint Studies and Catechism.

Bible History - I read this text to Jetter and while I read, or after I've read, Jetter draws what I call a picture narration. We compile these into a notebook. They are delightful to look at because Jetter is such a detailed drawer. This is one of our favorite things to do together.
Holy Traders Activity Kit - I purchased this for Jetter thinking the short concise biographies of the saints that are found on the cards and in the book would be appealing. I also thought he would enjoy collecting the cards. I was right about collecting the cards! The book that comes with the cards has the information from the cards as well as some fill in the blank questions below. Unfortunately, Jetter just likes to fill in the blanks without really reading the whole page of information so he is not gaining as much as I thought. Next year we will probably go back to reading biographies of the saints in book format.
St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism 1 While memorizing the Catechism questions has been a real struggle for Jetter, we have enjoyed the simplicity of the first two St. Joseph Catechism books. The pictures are excellent. If I had to do it over, I would have Jetter copy the picture for each lesson, as best as he could, into a notebook and have him narrate the concepts for that lesson. The pictures are wonderful at helping him to remember the concepts. I find that there is great depth in them, even in the first and most beloved book that we started with in first grade.

Math - Abeka Arithmetic 4 Normally in 4th grade we switch to Saxon Math. However, Jetter does so well with Abeka I had him continue for another year. Abeka uses a spiral approach like Saxon. The benefits for Jetter are that he can continue to write in the workbook as apposed to transferring his answers to paper, Abeka is challenging which keeps him from getting bored, and the lesson explanations are very short. I noticed, at least up until the 4th level, that the explanations use fewer words than Saxon, and are more visual. This appeals to Jetter and he is able to grasp the concepts quickly.

Language Arts

English/Grammar -Currently we are working through Abeka's Lanuage A. Like the math program from Abeka, the lessons are short and explained very briefly. The books have a variety of activities and incorporate some color.
Spelling - All About Spelling is a good program for VSLs. The tiles make it possible for the child to concentrate on the spelling concept not on the formation of the letters. The review cards are simple and colorful, also appealing to a VSL. It is rather mom-intensive so I am thinking of ways for Jetter to use it more independently.
Latin/ English Roots - We are using English From the Roots Up as an introduction to Latin as well as English vocabulary. This program works well because I am also incorporating the Greek and Latin Notebooking Pages from 4RPress

History - We've done several things for history this year. We started with the text, Pioneers and Patriots and added in some additional reading according to the MODG syllabus. I decided Jetter needed a visual, so when we were studying the Revolutionary War we watched the Liberty Kids DVD's, which all my children enjoyed. This worked out okay, but I don't feel the Jetter really learned as much about that time period as the other kids had. Now we're into the Civil War period and, once again looking for a visual resource, I ordered History Pockets Civil War. What a hit! I highly recommend this resource for visual and kinesthetic learners. It sort of has the flavor of a lap book but the student doesn't make all the small booklets. While Builder really enjoys lapbooks, all the cutting and pasting is really too much for Jetter. He gets lost in the process and the content gets overlooked. History Pockets is kind of the best of both worlds, in my opinion.

Science - Science didn't go as well has I had hoped this year. Jetter is still very interested in astronomy but the Apologia text we are using is moving too slowly for him. It's a very informative text but I'm afraid it's almost too much. Jetter is getting bogged down in details. We'll be looking for something different for next year. In years past, I really incorporated a lot of our science studies into our nature hikes. It was sort of an immersion approach since the kids were in the midst of what they were studying. I'm not sure of another way to describe it, but it works! It's hard to really immerse a kid into astronomy!

Handwriting - Jetter has been using Handwriting Without Tears since his kindergarten year. What a blessing this resource has been for us. We went from "wailing and gnashing of teeth" to an "oh, I CAN do this" attitude. Jetter's struggles with handwriting are hard to explain. One day, his penmanship is beautiful, whether it is cursive or print. The next day, or maybe even the next hour, it is barely legible. I honestly don't believe this is a discipline issue. He truly wants his handwriting to look nice and works hard at it.
Handwriting Without Tears has helped him to make huge strides.
That being said, I think it is time to move away from the HWOT books. Lately, instead of having Jetter do the workbook pages, I have been making my own copywork pages for him using Startwrite. Startwrite is a program that allows me to make my own handwriting or copywork sheets using any font I want, including the HWOT font.

Geography - This is one of Jetter's favorite subjects. He's memorizing the states and capitals, and the location of each of the states. His favorite part though is drawing the states and creating a geography notebook. For each state, he uses an outline map, either from Uncle Josh's Outline Map book or from the Dover United States coloring book to draw the map and add the important details. He really enjoys using the Dover coloring book because it includes drawings of the state bird, state flower, and several other details. He enjoys drawing these things onto his maps. Jetter has a great visual memory and from this exercise he can usually tell you the name of a state simply by looking at it's outline. I find that states like Florida and Michigan are quite easy to distinguish but South Dakota and some of the other, boxier states are confusing for me!

Well there you have it for Jetter. Once again a much longer post than I had hoped! The final post in this series will be about my totally hands on learner, Builder.

Learning Styles 1

2011-03-20T06:22:00.000-04:00

A few years ago I read Discover Your Child's Learning Style . I thought it was a very interesting read and I was delighted to find, after doing the tests and checklists in the book, that I already had a pretty good grasp of my children's various styles of learning. I believe that is one of the benefits of homeschooling. We know our children from the start and we can, with maybe a little thought and research, find those teaching /learning methods that best suit him or her.

On the other hand, I want to quickly add that I'm not sure it's good to use only materials that are in line with a child's learning modality or style. I believe children, and adults for that matter, need to be able to adapt their learning style. It will be a rare occasion for a college professor to excuse a child from a written exam because he is an auditory learner! So, before I jump into my children's learning styles and some of the curriculum that seems to work well for them, let me also say that I am always on the lookout for ways to help these children develop those learning modalities that are the weakest.

Many people are familiar with the 3 general learning modalities - visual, auditory and kinesthetic. I can safely say that among my 4 children for whom I've been able to determine which style of learner they are, there are no two that match! No wonder my life is so crazy! I have to admit I enjoy that though! These are the things that keep me challenged. (Well, these, and devising ways to keep the house clean, run the errands, keep the children well fed and in clean clothes .... you understand I'm sure!) I think that life as a teaching mom might get a little boring if all my kids learned in the exact same way. What then, would be the use of poring over those homeschool catalogs that come every spring ... for hours! What would be the use of all those dog eared pages and pencil jottings in margins? It would be so easy, and rather boring, to just make them all use the same program. I really enjoy meeting my children where they are at, and I think most homeschool moms are that way. If a child is an auditory learner, and he or she is struggling with a concept or entire subject, I can pull out the material designed for auditory learners and help her to understand better. On the other hand, if said child is such a strong auditory learner that she can't seem to learn concepts without hearing them, I might pull out the materials for visual learners and give her some challenge to help build those areas she is weak in.

I mentioned the 3 general learning modalities ~ auditory, visual and kinesthetic, but Discover Your Child's Learning Style takes it into further categories. The author calls these "Learning Dispositions". I found reading about these dispositions to be particularly interesting as this is the area in which I see my children overlap. Beyond the information in this book, there is also lots of information on line and in books about other learning types and styles. I found a brief explanation of the concept of   Linear vs. Global thinkers here . It is a very short article which explains that a person receives information in either the auditory, visual or kinesthetic modalities, and then processes it in either a linear or global way. I see that I have 2 linear learners and at least 1 global learner in my bunch. And then there are the VSL's (Visual Spatial Learners) we read so much about today. Well, maybe you don't, but since one of my children is a VSL, I tend to seek out information that will help me help him to learn.

I see that many of these labels mean the same thing, it's just a person's particular way of saying it that changes, which can create some confusion. But as best as I can I will try to describe the various labels that fit my various kids and list some of the curriculum choices that work well for each.

So, first up, is Night Owl. I don't teach Night Owl too much anymore. He is a junior in high school and doing quite well. This doesn't surprise me, based on his learning modalities and dispositions. He can be classified as:
Disposition: "Producing"
Modality: Equally strong auditory and visual
Style: Linear
Other: Introverted, excellent memory, all around nice guy type!

So, this child learns information by either hearing or seeing it. He likes his information to come to him following some sort of natural organized progression, like an outline, a timeline, a chart or graph. His "producing" disposition can be described as one that "likes plans and schedules, does well on tests, likes rules and routines, memorizes facts easily, efficiency oriented, focused, diligent ..." Do you see why a child like this would do well in school? What has helped Night Owl to stretch a bit outside his comfort zone? Yearly involvement in the Science Olympiad. Night Owl has always enjoyed all branches of science. Give him an encyclopedia about a science topic and he will happily read for hours. Give him a book like The Elements and he'll disappear for hours, reading and storing information in his very organized file system of a brain. But! Now, tell him to work with another student and build a robot for the robotics element of the Science Olympiad and you have a completely different child. This was the struggle of struggles for him. Thankfully, he is diligent, and kept at it despite the difficulties. Science Olympiad has thrown him into the state of insecurity each year, and I'm glad for it! It has helped him to see those areas in which he needs to work and that all learning isn't as easy as he might think. Along these same lines are the Shakespeare plays he and a group of friends had to re-create and then video tape for the class. Definitely outside of his comfort zone! He had to go beyond just memorizing the play and now actually recite those lines, while acting, while being taped for all to see! S-T-R-E-T-C-H! I think it's great, he doesn't always agree!

So I cut my homeschooling teeth on a very easy student to teach. What a breeze! Then came child #2, with some similarities but a few differences that provide some challenge for mom.
Social Butterfly:

Disposition: "Producing" and "Relating/Inspiring"
Modality: Very strong Auditory Learner
Style: Linear
Other: Extroverted, excellent auditory memory, musically inclined

Like Night Owl, Social Butterfly is in the "producing" category. She loves schedules, even more so than her brother, and is constantly organizing things on paper or in her room. She has schedules posted on her walls and charts for the business she will someday own. (Yes, at the ripe ol' age of 11, my daughter is determined to be an entrepreneur.) Along with all this scheduling and organizing though, Social Butterfly has a strong "Relating/Inspiring" component. She thrives when she is in social situations and is happiest when there are lots of people around her, paying attention to her.

This need for constant socialization, for the only daughter of this family, does create some challenges for me. I have to make sure she is seeing her friends on a regular basis and I'm always encouraging her brothers to include her in their games. I try to meet this need in several ways. She is involved in a dance class where she has met friends, she has a friend down the street that I allow her to see regularly, and when it is necessary to drive her to a friend's house or bring a friend here I try to make that a priority.  One not so great thing that happened this year is that the moms in our homeschool group are all so busy we weren't able to have any formal weekly "get together" for the kids. In years past my daughter has been involved in Little Flowers groups and last year we had both a Catholic Mosaic group and a Tea and Cake With the Saints group. This year, we are missing these organized socializing opportunities. But, in an effort to help her enjoy her least favorite subject - science, she is meeting once a week with a friend to do science labs together.  This has turned out to be an excellent idea. The girls have worked through the TOPS Magnetism Unit and are now working on the Electricity Unit together. These are definitely not subjects Social Butterfly would enjoy on her own, but add a friend and Science has become her favorite subject!

Here is the curriculum line up for Social Butterfly and a few notes on how / why they work:

~Religion - Besides the Baltimore Catechism, Social B. is doing a study of the gospels of Mark and Luke. She really enjoys this because we get to talk about it together. Anything that involves discussion is a subject that ranks high on Social B.'s "Like" list. For the discussion we are using the questions in Laura Berquist's Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum.
~Math - Saxon 7/6. Social B. is good at Math, but she doesn't like it all that much. I believe it is one of those subjects that makes her stretch. It is not a social subject here at the Academy. I encourage the kids to read the lessons and work the sample problems to try to figure it out on their own. I do step in when necessary, but I encourage independent learning here. I've added the D.I.V.E. CD to Social B.'s curriculum this year and she finds that helpful when she doesn't understand a concept. Hearing the instructor on the DVD as he explains the concept helps her to grasp it.
~English Grammar- Easy Grammar. Here again, is a relatively independent subject for Social B. She says she likes it more than Math but I think she would really like it if I sat next to her and discussed it with her the whole time. Being a mom of six children, I can't do that though. She does come to me with questions and I do explain new concepts, but for the most part it is a subject she works on independently.
~Latin - For Latin, I am happy to say that I found a way to make it a bit more social for Social B.  This year, I finally broke down and bought the DVD's that go with Latina Christiana. What a difference it makes. In the first place, there is a lady teaching Latin that knows her stuff.   Being an auditory learner, the DVD's are also very helpful in that Social B. can hear the teacher as she goes through the drills and lessons. I've also added Lingua Angelica this year and Social B. just loves it. It really appeals to the auditory learner and her love of music.
~Poetry - This year we are all enjoying Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization   . All of the kids, especially Social B. are finding the memorization of poetry much easier and more enjoyable. I keep the set of DVD's in the car and we listen to them as we travel here and there. Each morning, after prayer, each of the kids takes a turn reciting the poem they are currently memorizing. Social B. has two sets of poems she is working on. She also memorizes those poems as prescribed by Mother of Divine Grace for 6th grade. She really seems to enjoy poetry in all forms and memorizes it easily. She enjoys performing for us when she is asked to recite for the family as well.
~Spelling - For an auditory learner that struggles with spelling I haven't found a better program than Phonetic Zoo, created by the same company that gives us the Poetry mentioned above. Once again, Social B. does this mostly independently. We go over each new lesson together, and then she uses the CD to work through daily quizzes. Once she has gotten a 100% the required number of times, we go on to a new lesson. Hearing the words spelled out loud on the CD really helps them to stick with Social B. The little jingles and songs that she learns for each spelling rule also help.
~Science - As I mentioned above the TOPS Science units have been a big hit since Social B. is working on them with a friend. It's a big help to the friend's mother and I too. For Magnetism the girls met here weekly to do the experiments while I oversaw things. I taught a little, but most of it is what I would call discovery type learning. This semester, the girls are working on the Electricity unit at the friend's house. It's a nice break for me and I know the girls are still getting a quality science lesson.
~History - Social B. is really enjoying history this year. She is learning about Ancient Civilizations and most of that learning is through reading great historical fiction books. She did have some text book work early on as a spine, but from there it's just been reading and now writing a paper. She loves to talk to me about the books she is reading. She provides voluntary oral narrations on a regular basis and we both enjoy the conversation that follows. The list of books used in the history program for Mother of Divine Grace is just one of the many reasons why that program has been a big hit for both Social B. and Night Owl.

As usual, in posts like this I tend to get a bit wordy so I'll stop here and continue with my other two learners, different as night and day (except for their high activity level!) in a new post.

Saving Money ... or trying to!

2011-02-22T10:45:00.000-05:00

Today is grocery shopping day ... again! I am always amazed at how quickly we go through food around here. It seems that we shop for a month on Saturday and by Monday I'm hearing my 17year old, head in the fridge, saying "I'm hungry mom. Don't we have any food around here?".
It's really quite exasperating.
Now, truthfully, there is food. It's just not the grab and go sort of food my children would love to see more of around here. You know; chips, candy, hot pockets, mini-pizzas, etc. If my kids want pizza, they have to wait for me, or the pizza chef - Night Owl, to knead the dough. I rarely buy candy because high fructose corn syrup is a definite no-no around here. Chips are rationed. I see these foods as empty calories so I don't buy them often.
What can they eat for snacks? Fruit, veggies, nuts, some of them can have cheese, pb&j is a big hit for those who can eat bread, leftovers, homemade cookies, ... There's really quite a bit of food. How can I help it if my 17 year old considers an entire box of pasta (that's a pound) mixed with Alfredo sauce an after school snack? Or, an entire baking sheet of barbecued wings (made with his own barbecue sauce by the way!) is a bedtime snack?! This kid is so hungry all the time and even without purchasing junk food, I am spending way more money than I want to at the grocery store. Jetter and Builder are following closely in his footsteps, so I know there will be no financial relief anytime soon. With the gluten restrictions, Beany's diet can make things more expensive too (although he is worth every extra cent we have to spend!).
So, the dilemma - how do I feed these precious and very "hungry all the time children" without spending way more than I have budgeted for food?

I do several things that help:
I make up a monthly menu that I stick to as much as possible.

I try to shop once a month for most things to discourage impulse buying.
We don't eat a lot of junk food.
I try to buy fruits and vegetables in season.
I buy large portions of meat and use leftovers for lunches.

I don't clip coupons because I found that many of the coupon items were things I wouldn't normally buy. So if I save .50 on a box of cereal that I wouldn't have bought in the first place, that's really no savings.

I would like to do a better job at maintaining our garden and preserving what we have grown.
I would like to find a better, less expensive way to buy meat. I'm looking into the cost difference of buying a side of beef vs. buying the various cuts we eat.

My current project is to develop and use a price book. A price book is simply a way to keep track of prices of frequently purchased items. This link describes one method of making such a book. This is not a new concept for me. I've actually been trying to keep a price book effectively for a couple of years. My problem is that I was using methods that didn't really fit my circumstances. But after reading Miserly Moms, I decided to give it another try. So, a little brainstorming and problem solving helped me to come up with my current system.

The first price book I made was a binder style book. I had created a chart for each item I purchased on a regular basis. The chart was similar to the one in the link above. This was all kept in a 3 ring binder. The binder is supposed to sit, open, on the front of the shopping cart so the shopper can make notes as she goes and easily flip to the correct page to check the prices of an item. My problem is that this front seat of the shopping cart is rarely empty! I always have at least one little person with me. When that little person is a toddler it's even more difficult because they want to "help" and the pages to the price book get ripped out or scribbled on or whatever. The whole thing became very frustrating.

Price book number two was created on my computer and filed as a document there. My intention was to fill in the information when I came home from the store. Then, once it was complete, I would just take it with me to refer to, but not write on. I thought it would be easy to just use my receipts from each trip to record the information. Well, as most busy moms know, it's not always easy to find that time to sit down at the computer and fill in a chart right away. By the time I got to it, I would have a pile of receipts and then I often forget the size of the items and the receipts don't always show that. So that was slow going and frustrating as well.

So, what exactly did I need?
1~ The price book had to be portable. I wanted it small enough to fit in my purse.
2~ The price book had to be something hard that I could write on even when a little person was in the front seat of the cart. (A clip board came to mind, but lose papers wouldn't work. I'm sure I would lose them.)
3~It had to be organized so I could quickly find an item or jot a price down. (Quick is vital with toddlers in a grocery store!)
4~ I wanted it to be some sort of notebook with the paper bound into it. It's too easy to tear the papers from a binder.

So, wanna see what I came up with?

I used a journal style notebook because, in all honesty, I thought it was pretty. A steno notebook or composition notebook would work just as well though. The size of all of these is just right to slide into my purse, and because they have a hard binding, I can easily hold them in one hand and jot a note or two while resting it on the edge of the cart (or even my hip). But, pretty won out so this is what I'm using.

To make it organized, I used a copy of my shopping list. This is a list of the items I keep stocked in my kitchen or pantry. It is based on a menu rotation that I created some years ago and still use. (That took some time, but talk about a time saver! I highly recommend it!)

The above picture shows a shopping list that has been used already! You can see I scribble notes, circle certain items and then fold it to fit in my purse. The items are colored coded according to what store I buy them at.
In the price book I attached tabs for each division of grocery items. Since my shopping list is organized in order of my favorite grocery store, this was easy. (It also streamlines the shopping and makes it easy for my husband or son to find items if they need to go for me.) So my tabs say things like Dairy, Household Cleaners, Canned Goods, Produce, Meat, etc.

In order to do this, I used a sticky note per category and jotted the items in that category. Then I counted the number of pages I would need for the category, added a few for new items I might find, and went forward that number of pages before I started the next category.

Then I went through the list again and wrote each item on it's own page or 1/2 page. My intention is to keep track of the items, making notes on the brand, the size, the price and the store it was purchased.

Finally, I used a few of the most recent receipts to write in some of the items I had information for. This will give me a head start. As I mentioned above though, receipts don't always show all the needed information (like size of the item) so I still have quite a few items to write information for. This I will do as I purchase those items at the store.

In this example I have written notes for Salsa. It says "Pace, 38 oz 2 pack, $5.58 from Sam's Club." These are notes I can jot quickly at the store. Now, when I'm at a different store and I see that this salsa costs less, I can jot that information down as well. I can plan my shopping trips so that I'm buying the items at the lower prices.

I stuck some sticky notes to the back cover. These I will use if I need to jot an occasional note.
Finally, I stuck an envelope to the front cover. As I mentioned, I don't clip coupons on a regular basis, but occasionally I do see one that I can use. This will be a way to store them easily.

One thing I will add is that I only shop at 3 grocery stores. One is a regular grocery "super store", then there is a warehouse store that requires membership, and most recently I found that I can save money on some items from a local GFS. My husband and I usually go to the warehouse store and GFS once a month. It's nice to have him help me at these stores because the items are usually heavy! I try to go to the grocery store once a month as well, but it usually turns into one big trip a month and then smaller trips each week.
I know some people that go to 4 or 5 stores. But for me, the amount I would spend in gas and time just isn't worth it.

I would love to hear your ideas for saving some money, or things you've done with a price book to make it workable for you!

Oh, and just since he's so darn cute:

Montessori

2011-02-15T06:49:00.002-05:00

For homeschoolers using the Montessori Method, here's a great website to check out:
http://montessori-home-schooling.com/

Here's a quote describing the program:

NAMC's 3–6 Montessori Homeschool Program is an all-inclusive program that provides you with everything you need to set up and put into practice a three-year homeschool educational program for your child. In a convenient, single shipment, you receive all the curriculum, materials, preparation instructions, and support material you will need to build a solid homeschool foundation. The program is rooted in Montessori philosophy and methodology and is designed to meet the cognitive, emotional, social, and physical development needs of your child.

I can't imagine anything more helpful for a mom using the Montessori Method for her preschoolers!

Planning Changes

2011-02-12T10:42:00.003-05:00

I've written several posts about planning over the years. Maybe readers will see that I tend to change things each year. I suppose that's part of homeschooling, at least for me. Each year there are different circumstances to deal with; new babies, nursing babies, toddlers, traveling, learning difficulties, etc. etc. Around here, these changes usually mean I have to adjust my planning system. This year, back in August, we began with what I thought was going to be a great plan. But by October I was completely stressed.

Part of my October stress was due to the pregnancy. I remembered that when I was pregnant with Beany that "2nd semester energy boost" was non-existent. I suppose when your over 40 and pregnant energy boosts just don't happen. So, I was feeling tired and didn't see any light at the end of the nine month tunnel. That can be a bit depressing, especially as the days get shorter and colder.

Then there was the crazy schedule we had going. Both Night Owl and Jetter were playing football and while it was all very exciting, every weekend was taken up with football games. Night Owl's were on Friday nights and Jetter's were on Saturdays. So my Saturday routines which included some final school preparations, and normally extra cleaning, laundry, and errand running, were pushed to Sundays. That is something I really had a hard time with. Remember, I was already very tired, but now "the day of rest" was used for catching up from the hectic week! I just plain ran out of energy. Not to mention the planning, which I had enjoyed so much at the beginning of the year, just wasn't getting done. This made our Monday mornings less than stellar as far as schooling went. I didn't have my planning done and for me that is like being stuck in the mud. I have a really hard time just "winging things". I need a plan.

On top of everything else, I was feeling a bit burned out. Looking back, I'm not sure it was actually "burn out" but maybe just plain ol' tiredness. I actually cried when our homeschool group decided to have an All Saints Day Party. This is something I normally looked forward too, and my kids love! But I just saw it as one more thing I had to do. Costumes! Ugh! (I'm not proud of my attitude - just tryin' to give you a clear picture of how I was feeling!)

So, I remember thinking, "How on earth am I going to do this?! I'm already exhausted. I have a husband and kids that need to be loved, fed and cared for. I have kids that need to be educated. My house needs to be cleaned. Groceries need to bought. Errands need to be run ... AND this baby is due just before Christmas! I have to get ready for Christmas, like ... NOW! .... " Get the picture? I was wigging out big time!

Then, as a result of clicking through some of my favorite blogs, looking for inspiration, I clicked on a link, that linked to another link, that linked to this blog post:

Springs of Joy blog

Talk about "Springs of Joy"! I could almost hear The Hallelujah Chorus playing in the background! This file system saved the day, and since it's still working, the rest of our school year!

Here are her opening paragraphs - the lines that grabbed me and helped me realize that this is just what we needed:

"Wouldn't it be nice to have a personal assistant in your homeschool? How about an administrative assistant who would hand you everything you needed for the week pre-photocopied and organized by child... including lists for shopping and the library. Maybe she would even hand you a pile of fun coloring pages and games for your littles to do.
Perhaps she could help you get all the things you wanted to do in your homeschooling but never get to because you didn't have time to get it ready. Like what about that FIAR study that you always meant to do with your littles, or the fun lapbook units that pass by your email box."

Yes, that is exactly what I need! So how do I do it?

So I read the rest of the post, realizing that I had already completed the first 3 of her steps to starting this system. I then sat all the kids down and asked them how they would feel about taking an unplanned break from school - probably a week - so I could get a new system into place. Silly question! Of course they were on board, even though it meant that we would have to attach a week onto the end of our school year. They quickly calculated it and realized they would still be done with school before Night Owl, so they were all for it.

The kids started their "Fall Break" and I started gathering the materials. I already had tons of file folders on hand that I recycled for this purpose. No, they aren't pretty, but they are functional which is all I cared about at that time. (If I do this next year I might buy some pretty folders!). I found 2 file boxes and divided the folders in half, so they fit easily. I originally tried getting them all into one file box but they were really tight and getting things out would have been difficult. This way there was a little breathing room. Then, starting with Social Butterfly, I went through the rest of the year's plans and week by week filled the file folders with everything she would need, from grammar pages, to notes regarding papers to be written, to copies of poems to be memorized ... It was actually kind of fun. I was in organizer / planner heaven.

Then I moved on to Jetter, and then Builder. I did not do folders for Beany, although I realize now it would have been nice to put some coloring pages and number / letter worksheets in folders for him. The one subject I did not divide by week is Math.

There are a few reasons why I did not include Math in the fild folder system.

First, I would have had to tear out the pages and the math books are some big books! The thought of tearing them up just bothered me. Also, Social Butterfly's math book is not consumable, so I couldn't tear hers apart anyway.

Second, one of the things that makes the file system work is that if you miss a day, you just keep going. The missed work is quickly done orally, or even not at all. I can't do this for math. As you know, in math, each lesson builds on previous lessons. It's important that the child understands each step or they will find themselves totally lost a little while later (don't ask me how I know!). If we missed a day, I couldn't see just skipping the assignment, so the kids do every assignment in order. Yes, they might have a few days at the end of the year after the rest of the school work is done to finish up math, but it's not usually a problem.

Third, we have a great "flow" to our day and that is something that didn't need changed. Part of that flow is that we do math at the dining room table, all together, while the kids eat breakfast. The rest of our school work is done in the school room. So I just kept the math books and materials in the dining room where they had always been. The file boxes are stored in the school room where the rest of the work is done.

One week later, or really less than a week, the file system was ready to go. It works beautifully with our workboxes and binders. Each Saturday, it only takes me a few minutes to pull out each child's folder and pop the assignments into their boxes or binders. The kids are cruising along with their school work despite the fact that I might be changing a diaper or nursing a baby. Mondays are no longer dreaded ... well at least not much, and I don't have to spend hours on the weekend planning for the week. (Actually, I do still plan a few things but they are the fun things we weren't getting to before, like Lap Books! But that's yet another post!)

Frozen

2011-02-04T07:49:00.000-05:00

Frozen - That's how I feel here at this blog! I guess I match the weather...

By the way, my husband did not agree with my last post. Maybe because it's his job to clear the driveway.

One of my kids all time favorite things is to run next to the snow blower and have the snow fall on them. I don't get it, but they sure have a good time doing it!

Anyway, back to being frozen here at the blog. I have quite a few things I would like to write about - mostly homeschool related - but for some reason I can't get myself to just sit down and write them! For example, what exactly was I doing from All Saints Day until PJ was born? That was a big gap of nothingness at the blog, but it was filled with lots of exciting things in real life. Night Owl can't believe I didn't even post anything about the football team going to the state finals and then winning the championship!

One of the most time consuming things I did was to completely revamp my system for planning for the kid's learning activities. After a panic set in regarding how I was going to do everything when the new baby arrived as well as just get through the last couple of weeks of pregnancy and then Christmas, I went in search of a better, more streamlined way of doing things. I'll be writing about it soon - it's working well. It practically runs itself which is what I needed.

On a not so positive note, Beany, who had been doing so well on a gluten free diet, started to lose weight. This was due to the mistake I made. About 6 months ago he had some gluten and it didn't seem to have any negative effects. We slowly added in more and more until we were back to eating a "regular" diet. I had assumed that he grew out of his gluten sensitivity. Not so! The symptoms just took a while to show and when they did ... they really did! Poor kid. When we realized he had lost nearly 5 pounds we new what the problem was. We are back to a strict gluten free diet for him and he's already starting to gain weight. I would like to write a post to share some of the new resources and recipes I've discovered.

There are also big plans in the works for a summer vacation! Planning a trip out west has us all excited for summer to arrive! I'll be posting about that as it gets closer.

Then, of course, there will be the planning posts for next year! Can you believe I've already started looking at curriculum?! School room changes will be included as well.

So, not much has been posted lately, but I have alot of posts tucked away in my brain. I just need to get them organized! Maybe if we get a February thaw, my brain will thaw a bit as well. From the looks of things lately though, that might be a while in coming!

More Snow

2011-01-30T07:56:00.000-05:00

When my husband and I decided to move here, a friend said, "Well, you better learn to like winter!".
After about 20 years I can say "What's not to like?"

(Ask me again in late March when the river is still frozen and I might answer differently!)

Cakes

2011-01-29T09:03:00.000-05:00

Thanks to a very dear and talented friend, Social Butterfly is taking cake decorating classes. So far she's made two cakes and I'd say she's doing a great job.
The first one she did on her own, sort of an experimental cake:

After taking two classes, Social Buttefly made this cake:

It wont be long and I'll be "hiring" her to make all the special occasion cakes for the family!
(With all this delicious cake around here I'm never going to lose this "baby weight" though!)

Therapy

2011-01-21T08:16:00.000-05:00

When Night Owl started going to highschool in 9th grade, Beany was a new born. That was a good year for Night Owl, but I imagine learning the new routines, making new friends, figuring out what various teachers wanted, etc. was all a bit stressful. Some days, he would come home from school and find Beany and just pick him up and hold him a while. It seemed to be a relaxing thing to do.

Now, with PJ, everyone recognizes the "thereputic properties" of holding a sleeping baby.

Is it the weight on the stressed-out person's chest?

The steady breathing?

The little baby noises?

The feeling that this little person is just so content to sleep in the arms of the one holding him?

I guess it could be any one or all of these things, but for whatever reason, everyone in the house seems to gravitate toward PJ - especially when he's sleeping.

For some, I literally have to argue why Mom gets to hold the baby too - and not just when he's crying!

Life gets a little tumultous for pre-teen girls! Who wants a stuffed animal when they can hold a peacefully sleeping baby!

Night Owl has a pretty intense schedule lately so he does less "just-sitting-and-holding-the-baby". He's more inclined to multi-task.

At the football banquet we recently attended, Dad was double-proud. Not only did the oldest receive awards, but the youngest looked darn cute sleeping on his shoulder. More therapy!

When the cousins were here this past weekend the excitement of it all was a little too much for Builder. At one point he came to me and said "Mom, I feel kinda hyper. Can I just hold PG for a while?" Therapy!

And then there's the "Looking out the window, watching the river while holding the baby" sort of therapy session. Jetter and I both prefer this one!

He really does more that sleep! The sleeping baby pictures were too precious to pass up though!

PJ's Baptism

2011-01-19T07:07:00.000-05:00

Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day. My brother and his wife, PJ's godparents, came up with their kids, and my mom and her husband came as well. It was nice to see them all and my kids really enjoyed re-connecting with their cousins!
The baptism itself was beautiful and I was proud that my children behaved at Mass! I have these fears of one of them diving into the baptismal pool (I apologize that I don't know the official name for it) but other than a close call with Beany, nothing of the sort happened!
After the baptism family and friends all came to the house to help us celebrate. It was a joyful event!

PJ with his godmother after the "de-robing"! He looks a bit stricken by the whole event!

PJ with his godparents.

The cousins got to bring up the gifts!

The kids all behaved well ... mostly!

We are so blessed with little PJ!

Grandpa, and Grandma with grandchild #19!

He's Here!!

2010-12-24T09:54:00.000-05:00

Announcing our newest member to the family, and a most precious Christmas gift ...
"P.J." !!

10 days old and all ready for Christmas.

Beany loves being a big brother!

Builder and Jetter, aka the "bash brothers" have no problem being gentle with their new little brother!

Social Butterfly is always ready to lend a hand and loves picking out P.J.'s outfits each day.

Nothing warms a mother's heart more than seeing a big tough teenager being gentle and loving with his newborn brother!

Saints, simplified

2010-10-13T08:58:00.000-04:00

With All Saints Day coming up the kids are excited and talking on a regular basis of who they are going to "be". I have to admit, I find this all rather stressful. I think it has to do with the costumes. Or actually, making the costumes. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not crafty and sewing is something I've never found relaxing. Social Butterfly, on the other hand, must be blessed with some genes from her Mom Mom! But, this post isn't about sewing, it's about the saints.

We love to read about the saints here. Each day that there is a feast, my kids want to hear the story of that particular saint. But sometimes, like All Saints Day costumes, it can get to be "too much". Doing a search on line for a particular saint will bring up all sorts of recipes and crafts to do. It's easy to get caught up in it all and think, in order to remember a particular saint, this that and the other thing need to be done. I recently read a blog post here that addresses this very thing. My kids love the crafts and the special foods, and sometimes we do add those things to our day, but, as the blogger above says, it's really about the story.

So that's what I've concentrated on this year. We have done absolutely no crafts for any of the saints we have studied and, true confession time, I haven't even prepared a special food for any of the saint's feast days. I'm not saying it's best, I'm just saying it's what is happening here. Instead we just read the story, talk about how we can imitate that saint and move on. If I have a picture or statue, we put it on our window sill to remind us of the day. It's working out fine. I just finally came to the realization that for us, remembering a saint on this more ... "normal" level means we are more likely to get to it. When I keep things simple, we actually do read about each and every saint and talk about them. When I think I need to make a special cake or buy ingredients for a special craft in order to honor a saint, it often just doesn't get done. When I know that during prayer time today we are simply going to read about that saint it happens every time.

I thought I would mention a few resources that I use on a regular basis for reading about the saints. There are many, many books and web sites about saints and if I wanted to list all that I know about it would take pages and pages. But these are my "go to" resources, the ones we use all the time.

Catholic Mosaic - I love this book. The author, Cay Gibson, is a homeschool mom who compiled a list of beloved saints and found picture books for each. I have slowly collected most of these picture books and my children enjoy hearing them read each year on the saint's particular feast day. She also gives suggestions for crafts, copywork, and much more. As I said above though, this year we are just concentrating on the story and it's working great.
Fenestrae Fidei - This is the companion coloring book for Catholic Mosaic. It's easy for me to include the coloring pages because I will let the kids color while I read. This is a great activity for fidgety kids. Another resource for coloring pages is the Waltzing Matilda Blog where the talented author has many saints coloring pages available.

Picture Book of Saints We use this book on a regular basis. It is part of our morning prayer routine. Whenever it is a feast day, we look here first to find the story of the saint. It is written for children, with short paragraphs but it gives great information. Actually, my kids will read through this book at random times during the year. It's always with our morning prayer resources so they know where to go to get it. For my older children it will often inspire them to learn more about the saints. This time of year it is particularly useful, because of the pictures, for putting together costumes for All Saints Day celebrations.

Catholic Culture Liturgical Year If I can't find information about a particular saint in the resources above, or when the kids want to learn more about a saint, we go to this great web site. In years past, when I had more energy for crafts and recipes, this site was used often for ideas.

Along with remembering the saints on their feast days, my children are also reading about a particular saint on a regular basis. This is part of their school work. For this purpose, the younger kids (K - 2nd grade) use one of these books:
Once Upon a Time Saints and More Once Upon a Time Saints The stories are relatively short and I read them to the children. Afterwards, the kids do a narration of what they have learned and usually draw a picture. The neat thing about these books is that many of the saints in them aren't commonly known. Did you know there was a Saint Kentigern, or a Saint Pharaildis?

Vision Books of the saints These are the books the older kids use. They read them to learn more about the entire life of the saint. I will occasionally read one of these biographies to the kids as part of our Tea Time reading.

So now I'm off to find the makings for our various costumes this year. Builder wants to be St. Sebastian, arrows and all.

This is going to be tricky!

Builder's Birthday

2010-10-07T08:45:00.000-04:00

We were blessed with a beautiful day for Builder's birthday celebration.

It started with a trip to Builder's favorite "hiking place". Hiking is something all of us enjoy so when Builder requested that on his birthday everyone was quite happy to oblige.

While Builder enjoys hiking, there is more to this place that he finds interesting. It is a rather short trail, I think just a little over a mile, which makes it perfect for Beany at this age. But all along the trail, at different stopping points, there are little forts or playhouses set up. These were donated by various companies in the community. The kids really enjoy coming upon them and exploring them before we move on to the next.

The "Look Out Tower" is another big hit. The kids enjoy climbing the many steps to the top so they can see the whole area from above.

Then there is the "grand finale". The last stop on the trail includes what looks like a mess! It is actually a "Build Your Own Fort" area. Builder loves this! All the kids enjoy it really, but Builder is always the last to want to leave. Even Dad enjoyed the break to check his favorite team's score!

After the hike we moved on to the second thing Builder requested for his birthday: a Happy Meal! I usually let the kids choose what they would like for their birthday dinner. The older kids always seem to want to go to the expensive steakhouse or to have some elaborate meal that takes half the day to prepare. I admit, while Happy Meals aren't my idea of a healthy dinner, I was relieved that his request was so simple!

Then it was home for birthday cake and icecream and presents! It was a great day.
Note: You may have noticed someone else in a couple of these pictures! I do not have a daughter that is older than Social Butterfly. Night Owl's "friend" joined us for the day!

A Beautiful Focus For the Year!

2010-09-23T08:35:00.000-04:00

I often read what Cay has to say at her blog and I absolutely love
this quote by Mother Teresa at her Children's Home in Calcutta!

Just one of the benefits of homeschooling ~

2010-09-22T07:43:00.000-04:00

So, what do you do when the math is done, it's 10:00 AM, the sun is shining and the thermometer tells you the temperature is 75 degrees?

Head out for a nature hike of course! What a beautiful way to celebrate the feast day of St. Matthew!

What we're up to

2010-09-15T07:18:00.000-04:00

I just thought I'd post some pictures of the various activities everyone is up to around here. As usual, it's been a busy first month of school! That first picture is actually a family picture that turned out! It was taken at my husband's "company picnic" where his boss likes to try out his photography hobby. I'd say he did a good job!

Night Owl started back the day after Labor Day. It's nice that he can drive to school this year! Mornings are much more peaceful around here.

Of course, this time of year also means football for him. He's already played 3 games and so far he's doing great.

Social Butterfly is really enjoying her weekly science day with her friend!

The other school work seems to be just something she wants to get done each day, although she does enjoy the history reading.

She's started back to her piano lessons and has made lots of new friends at the park since we are there 3 afternoons a week while Jetter has football practice.
Then there is the Cider Stand. As the summer weather is slowly turning cooler, "The Pink Lemon", Social Butterfly's lemonade stand, has closed. But now she has "Social B's Cider Stand" which features apple cider - warm or cold, and donuts on occasion. She's definitely our business kid.

Jetter is quite enthused about his study of the solar system this year. Here he is working on a mobile that we'll hang in his bedroom when he's completed it.

He's also really enjoying football this year! His coach is doing an excellent job of teaching these kids and keeping them all in line! Notice he shares a number with his big brother! He finds that to be quite an honor!

Builder is enjoying our afternoons at the park, making lots of new friends like Social Butterfly. He seems to be enjoying his school work, once he sits down and gets busy! Learning to read is the goal for Builder this year and I think he'll do just fine!

Beany's favorite past-time lately is sitting on my lap and waiting for the baby to kick. He thinks that's a riot!

As he matures, he and Builder are able to play more and more and they are forging a great relationship.

Beany also enjoys going to the park and gets quite upset on the days we don't go.

The new baby is growing and growing as is seen by the fact that I am growing and growing. He (or she) is quite active which is reassurance to me on a regular basis. I'll find out when the official date for the c-section is at my next appointment. A name for the new baby is the hot topic of discussion at our dinner table lately!

2 weeks down

2010-08-28T11:34:00.001-04:00

(Warning, long post ahead with no pictures!)

Now that we're two weeks into the school year I thought I would do a post about what is working so far and what needs to be adjusted...
I had some problem with organization for this post so I decided to use a quote by a well known person in the home school world: Charlotte Mason (see links below). While I tend toward a classical curriculum and, as evidenced by our enrollment with Mother of Divine Grace, I appreciate and use the curriculum suggested by Laura Berquist, I still go back to the writings of Charlotte Mason on a regular basis. In fact, one of the things that drew me to Mother of Divine Grace in the first place was that Laura Berquist's curriculum is, in my understanding, quite "Charlotte Mason friendly".

"Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life."
~ Charlotte Mason

So, based on this philosophy, here's what's working and what's not in our little home school, according to Miss Mason's quote.

"Education is an atmosphere" ~
On the positive side, I would have to say the atmosphere of our home, in general, is quite "education friendly". We have tons of books that the children are reading on a regular basis. Books are a standard gift at Christmas and birthdays, and I try to stay keyed into my children's ever changing interests so I can provide the books that will encourage them to go deeper into those interests and learn more.
"What would happen if ...?" is a frequent question here and I love to indulge the kids by letting them find out ... unless it's dangerous of course! That often means we have messes here and there and the level of activity in the house can be a bit nerve wracking but, like many moms, I would rather have my kids learning by doing something messy then watching television. Even now, as I type, Jetter is rolling magnets down the side of the fridge and discovering that by placing them in a negative-to-negative position they roll differently than when they are placed in a negative-to-positive position. Builder is using his screw driver to take apart an old remote control car that doesn't work any more. He loves to take things apart, piece by piece, to discover how the object works. Of course, he doesn't put them back together, he just stores all the parts in a box that is now a jumble of screws, wires, plastic pieces, etc. But, he is curious and this allows him to feed that curiosity.
So, yes, in this regard, "Education is an Atmosphere", in our home.

But ... there are definitely some things we need to work on regarding "Atmosphere"...

Organization of the school room is the big one! We dove into the year even though the school room wasn't ready for us! I didn't get it done ahead of time, but I knew if I waited it might be another two weeks before we actually started, so we started in the midst of a messy, disorganized room. Bad idea. It caused much stress for me and the kids. So "number 1" on my to do list this weekend is to whip this room into shape!

Besides the school room, I feel like I need to restore some general sense of orderliness to the rest of the house as well. While I really can't complain about this pregnancy (I feel quite strong and healthy), I do need to take it easy and often lay down for a bit in the afternoon. Over time, I'm seeing that the house is slowly becoming disorganized because I am not as diligent at keeping up with things. I don't think children need to be raised in a sterile environment, but I do think the environment needs to be orderly. The lack of order that is creeping in definitely needs to be remedied!

"...a discipline"~
Under the area of discipline I think of schedules, curriculum, and general obedience. This might not be what Charlotte Mason meant, but for me, discipline is like an orderly environment; without it, learning is scattered and those very important things that children need to learn at various stages in their development might not happen. Without discipline, I might decide it is unnecessary to teach Builder to read. Builder might not care at this stage, after all, "reading doesn't require the use of a screw driver so who needs it!" But without the ability to read, he wont be able to pursue the interests that he will have regarding our nation's history or complicated science concepts later on.
As Social Butterfly grows into a young lady she often struggles with why it is necessary to obey certain rules. She is truly a blessing but she is strong willed and, while that will serve her well some day, it makes things a bit tumultuous here at home at times. If I allow the disobedience, once again, learning is quite haphazard so I must have standards and rules in place with proper consequences. (Although I must admit, the natural consequences are often the best means of learning why a certain rule is in place!)
So discipline is necessary.
As far as a schedule goes, we get an A+ for following our morning schedule over the last two weeks. For various reasons our afternoon schedule isn't working as well. Here, once again, it's the discipline. Usually by afternoon I'm a bit tired and the kids, having finished most of their school work, just want to play. I've designed our schedule to make this possible to some degree, but there are still afternoon chores to be done and quiet reading times that are important. These things seem to be getting tossed by the way as we relax or prepare for the late afternoon activities like football practice.  I told the kids that our goal for the coming week is to keep to the daily routine even into the afternoon.
Curriculum for this school year seems to be working quite well for the most part. I can't think of anything that I regret using. The big hit for Social Butterfly has been the science with her best friend! I am very pleased with how seriously the girls are taking this. They have accomplished more than the assignment requires both times they have met.    Their differing interests really compliment each other and they encourage each other in positive ways. For Jetter, the big hit has been his taped history lessons. I've actually had to stop him from moving too far ahead in the text since there are certain activities I want to do that are scattered throughout the history curriculum. For Builder, it's the reading that he is learning. He doesn't always seemed thrilled when it's time to get out the reading materials, but once we start into it he doesn't normally want to stop. So, for curriculum, I'd say we are doing well.
As I mentioned above, I think the "chore category" falls under discipline as well. This is where we need to step up quite a bit! Enough said about that already!

"... a life."~
I have a hard time separating "Education is an atmosphere" and "Education is a life". Perhaps the difference is that the term atmosphere is in regards to the child's surroundings, and life is in regards to the length of time required for education. If this is true, than I think the life of a child is often full of education, even when we adults step out of the way. We need the discipline to teach them long division (and they need the discipline to pay attention and learn it!) but there are so many things a child learns just by their very lives. As I mentioned above, the curiousity to roll the magnets now the side of the fridge or take an old electronic toy apart make those activities educational even though there was no adult involvement. I stopped later in this post to check on these two boys of mine who had since abandoned there activities to venture into the woods. They were just playing, but in their play they discovered various things in the woods that weren't there before. Different flowers in bloom, a tree that had fallen for no apparent reason, turkeys flying across the river (to get away from my boys!).    They excitedly told me about each of these things and I saw the learning taking place ... "Why did that tree fall?" , "Turkeys seem to have a hard time getting started in flight, and they don't stay in the air long!" , "Is this flower a different kind of Trillium mom?" All questions and comments that lead me to say "Let's find out!"
My oldest son is currently researching various recipes from around the world. He is filling files on my computer about the foods found in various countries like France, Jamaica, or even Macedonia. His school hasn't started yet so he's spending lots of time on this "foodie interest". I don't mind in the least! I love the fact that my big, football playing, weight lifting, "all boy" of a son enjoys cooking. Someday his wife will too, I'm sure! I also like knowing that in learning about the foods of these countries he is also learning about some of the customs and even the locations of very small countries that he might now have heard of in is geography studies.
Our faith is another area in which we learn so much by the living of it. Catechism, Bible Study and the lives of the saints all play a huge roll in the kid's education. But, the very living of our faith is where they learn the most. Talking to good friends who have taken missionary trips, attending Mass and taking part in the sacraments, access to pictures that lead to questions regarding the Catholic Faith, praying the rosary or various novenas are all things that we "just do" that teach us about our beautiful faith. As my oldest left for his first football game of the season I yelled "Don't forget to pray for the intercession of.." and he yelled back, "I know, I know. St. Sebastian, St. John Bosco and Mary!" It was just another everyday thing we do but he has learned that our prayers are important and that the saints actually do intercede for us. (He played really well in that game by the way:) !

I myself am still learning, and I hope I can still say that when I'm a grandmother. I want each of my children to love the idea of learning and to stay ever-curious even into adulthood.

So, "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life" is not just a great quote to keep in mind but a goal for our homeschool. There are so many areas that need improvement in this regard, but I think it is the striving for perfection that will keep us on the right track.

(If you are interested in reading more about Charlotte Mason, there are many sites available on the internet. Here is just a sampling of what is available:
http://www.charlottemasoneducation.com/overview.html
http://charlottemason.tripod.com/Jumpstart.html
http://www.love2learn.net/bkbteduc/mason.htm
http://simplycharlottemason.com/basics/what-is-the-charlotte-mason-method/
http://www.design-your-homeschool.com/ambleside-online.html
http://www.materamabilis.org/

Planning 4: Curriculum for Social Butterfly

2010-08-11T09:11:00.000-04:00

Wow, I was on a roll with the planning posts then I took what I thought was going to be a short break from thinking about school (something I force myself to do every summer to avoid burn out) and now here we are, it's almost time to start, and I have to hurry to get the rest of the planning done! Social Butterfly's is really the only curriculum I haven't talked about yet and her's is pretty easy.

While Jetter's curriculum required lots of deviation from the Mother of Divine Grace recommendations,
Social Butterfly's is right in sync with them. She's a lot like Night Owl was in that regard - sort of your classic, classical learner! I have made a few changes, based on what I already have that works, but most of it is straight from the syllabus.

Here's the short and sweet form:

Religion ~ Social Butterfly's Religion curriculum changes a bit this year. Instead of doing the Catechism / Bible History / Saints Studies trio, she will concentrate more on just the Bible. She will still use the Baltimore Catechism but her focus will be on the Gospels of St. Mark and St. Luke.

Math ~ Social Butterfly will continue in the Saxon series for Math. She will be working from the 7/6 level this year. Saxon is a good fit for her. The transition, which usually happens in 4th grade, is a bit difficult beause the child goes from what are primarily work books, to more of a text book format. I like the text book for Math because once I have it on my shelf, I don't have to buy it again! The difficulties come in the fact that now the student has to write her answers on paper instead of directly in the book, and the instruction is given in paragraph form. In order to understand the day's lesson, the child must read about it. This is a bit difficult at first, but I think it is a good discipline. I'm always there to answer any questions and help the child if they don't understand the lesson, but I always have them try on their own first. Night Owl was well prepared for highschool using this series so as long as it works for my children's individual needs, we will continue on with it.

Science ~ Social Butterfly is really looking forward to science this year. I have to admit, it has more to do with the idea the she will be doing the science lessons with a friend than with the actual content of the lessons, but I'm hoping this social aspect will be a great motivator. Social Butterfly has never really been that interested in science so I was a bit concerned that the TOPS science kits she will be using would be a flop. But then a friend and I got the idea to let our daughters work together so I think now it will be a big hit. Social Butterfly will be using the kits for Electricity and Magnetism. In the syllabus, it is set up in such a way that each lesson will take two days. The first to read and gather materials, and the second to actually perform the experiments. The girls will do the "reading days" at home, then meet at one of the two houses for the "experiment days".

Latin ~ Social Butterfly will continue with Latina Christiana I. This year will be a greater focus on the grammar of Latin, while continuing with the vocabulary study. I've purchased the Latina Christiana I DVD's that we will watch as part of her lesson. I learned with Night Owl that some things have to be learned along with the student and Latin grammar is one of them for me!
Because she is such an auditory learner, I will also be adding Lingua Angelica as a supplement this year. This program is really based on learning beautiful Latin songs and prayers. I'm looking forward to using it and I think she will enjoy it as well!

Language Arts - The series I'm planning to start with Social Butterfly this year is Easy Grammar. I've heard both good and bad reviews, and I'm hoping this will be a good fit. I found Voyages to be a struggle with Night Owl at this age, so we're trying something different. Social Butterfly seems to pick up grammar concepts pretty quickly so I think the simplified approach of Easy Grammar should work out. ... We'll see.

For Spelling and Editing I have deviated from the Mother of Divine Grace plan. Both resources are published by the Institute for Exccllence in Writing. The Editing resource we will use is called Fix It. I used this with Night Owl and it is a great learning tool. For Spelling, we will use the Phonetic Zoo. This program is also developed by Anderew Pudewa and seems to be geared towards auditory learners (although I'm sure it will work with any child). Social Butterfly is very auditory, so I'm giving it a try. Spelling is not something she excells at so I'm hoping this will help her learn some of those concepts that she struggles with.

History - Social Butterfly will change directions a bit in History this year. Instead of continuing with American History, she will begin a study of Ancient History. The text she will use is The Old World and America, but like other years with Mother of Divine Grace, the text is mostly a spine and there are many books recommended for supplemental reading. This link will take you to that list of living books that will be included with the Ancient History studies. It is a bit long for individual links. Of course, I have added a few fun activities for this study of Ancient History. I think Social Butterfly will enjoy the artistic component of Paint Your Own Papyrus and these Punch Out Mummy Cases.

Geography will coordinate with history this year. Social Butterfly will be studying maps of Egypt and the Ancient Near East.

For Music, Social Butterfly will continue her piano lessons and the study of classcial music. I deviate a bit from Mother of Divine Grace because all my kids study the classical pieces together. This seems to work best for us. One of the best ways I have learned to do this is to pop the cd in while we are driving to piano lessons. I have a captured audience then and they can listen with attention.

For Art, besides the extra activities I have purchased to go along with her history studies, Social Butterfly is very excited to begin learning calligraphy this year. We will be using the Calligraphy First Steps book. She has been really looking forward to this so I think she will enjoy it. We will also continue our study of classical art which we do every year. I normally use the "picture study" method, a Charlotte Mason approach to the study of art, but this year Social Butterfly will be using a text on her own for this. Art 7 For Young Cathoics is a book published by Seton that I hope she will enjoy.

That wraps it us for Social Butterfly and all the kiddos. Now I just need to get the school room in order!

Inspiration

2010-08-05T08:24:00.001-04:00

As planning for the coming school year wraps up, I am reminded to keep my focus on what is truly important, and fellow homeschool bloggers often provide inspiration.

The first thing I read this morning was an excellent quote at this Cajun Homeschool Blog. Please go to her blog and read it today, whether you homeschool or not. It is a great reminder of what is important.

Another important reminder comes from this blog post, where she writes her thoughts regarding this article on simplifying homeschooling. I too tend to be a "Martha" yet I see time and time again that my children learn much from the simple, ordinary things.

So often it's the grandiose plans that fail around here, but the simple things, built into our very life, are the occasions for true and deep learning. Daily prayer, daily reading times, nature walks, and even the time I leave unplanned for the kid's own creative play are often the times when life lessons, the most important lessons, are learned.

And it's interesting to me that, unlike those concepts learned from complicated science experiments and the memorization of history dates (both highly important in a child's education ... but maybe not the most important ...), those lessons learned during these simple, daily routines of our life are not easily forgotten.

Summer's End

2010-08-03T09:10:00.002-04:00

While the weather is telling us we're in the midst of summer, last night's football sign-ups are a big reminder that we are soon to start school. We're starting early this year (Aug. 9th or 16th) to ensure plenty of time in December for a break when this baby is born. Here are a few pictures from our last big summer event - swimming lessons!

Jetter in his way-cool goggles!

Beany made a good friend. These two played together each day while their older siblings took swimming lessons.

Social Butterfly and a good friend. Gotta love that goggle look!

Social Buttefly with her instructor.

Diving instruction. Do you see Jetter (just behind the handrail)? He's obviously ready to give it a try before the instruction is complete. Doesn't surprise me in the least! :)

As for Builder, he is constant motion in the water. It made it very difficult to get a clear picture. Thank heavens he had a very patient instructor. Heres a video instead of a still shot - since "still" isn't his nature! (Just click the arrow.)

A Visit From Mom Mom and Pop Pop

2010-07-27T08:38:00.000-04:00

Mom Mom and Pop Pop came for a visit last week and we had a very nice time. One of the places we went while they were here is a zoo in a city not far from our home. It was a beautiful day, although a bit warm. Here are the pictures, mostly taken by Night Owl ...

(Dad, with Mom Mom and Pop Pop)

(The boys, watching a tide pool as "waves" roll in)

(Night Owl holds Beany up to see the penguins being fed)

(Otters are my favorite!)

(This fellow seemed less than enthused)

(Pop Pop)

(Dad and Mom Mom - I'm not sure what they are looking at)

(Builder and Social Butterfly, learning about lion skulls)

(An air conditioned spot to take a rest!)

The trip to the zoo was a perfect ending to an enjoyable visit from Mom Mom and Pop Pop. They are headed west now, and in our prayers and they make the long journey to the other side of the U.S.!

Construction Zone

2010-07-22T12:56:00.002-04:00

Sorry about the mess. Making a few changes here and hope to be done soon!

Rock Wall Climbing

2010-07-18T10:05:00.001-04:00

When a priest who is a friend came back from Rome for a visit the first thing he wanted to do is go rock wall climbing. This priest is a great person and really enjoys kids. So of course, all the kids came! There were quite a few families so we filled the place. Everyone had a great time! For some reason, maybe the lighting, it's hard for me to get pictures at the "Rock Wall Climbing place" without them being blurry. But here are some that aren't too bad.

(Fr. "D" explains to Builder how the harness and pulleys work. Builder was of course more interested in the pulley systems than in the actual climbing, but he did his share of that too.

I was very proud of Social Butterfly who made it all the way to the top despite her fear of heights. Then she went back and did it again, and even moved on to the more difficult wall.

Night Owl was of course only willing to try the advanced wall. It's quite a challenge.

Here, Jetter ~~argues with~~ talks to friends about who will make it to the top first. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of Jetter climbing! He was like Spider Man on that wall! I don't know how many times he was up and down. Here's a picture from a previous wall climbing trip to keep things fair.

Even Beany got in on the fun!

It was a great day and we're thankful that Father "D" will be here for a while. The big kids will be doing rock wall climbing and pizza quite often while he is here. I can't think of a better person for Night Owl to be friends with!

Beany's 3!

2010-07-12T07:30:00.000-04:00

In celebration of Beany's 3rd birthday, we spent a beautiful day at the beach. I didn't realize that we had yet to take Builder or Beany to any of the Great Lakes. Builder was amazed at how big it was. "Just like the ocean!" he said.

We started the day with a picnic in a shelter near the beach. Beany's birthday cake was a little less than amazing, but I'm still working on my gluten free baking skills!

It did taste good though and he didn't seem to mind that the breeze kept us from actually lighting the candles.

After lunch and birthday cake Beany opened his presents. He was thrilled with everything!

Finally, we headed to the beach for some fun in the sun. It was a warm day so the kids spent plenty of time in the water.

They also enjoyed playing in the sand and even taking a rest.

Dad and I talked about how we should do this more often.

Happy Birthday Beany!

Planning 3: Curriculum for Jetter ~ 4th Grade

2010-07-09T12:08:00.003-04:00

I have read a lot of blog posts regarding planning lately and I admire those people who can, in a very succinct way, describe the curriculum choices they have made for their children. I am not that gifted! My posts tend to go on and on, and I apologize for that. I guess I'm just a "wordy" person. I had originally intended to include the plans for all of my children in this post but that didn't work. So here is part 2, in which I will describe the plans for Jetter, my 4th grader, and there will be yet another post regarding plans for Social Butterfly, who will be in 6th grade.

Once again, I must include the fact that we are enrolled with Mother of Divine Grace School . They are self described as an accredited "distance education program". We first enrolled with MODG when Night Owl was entering 6th grade. At that time, although I enjoyed putting together my own curriculum, I really felt I wanted the accountability that MODG provides. I also felt that the program was very thorough and I believe the classical method, in the way the founder, Laura Berquist, utilizes it, is an excellent way to teach the children.. I have also always been interested in, and used much of the methodology of Charlotte Mason. With MODG, much of that methodology is already incorporated in the program. The other benefit that I have enjoyed with MODG is the availability of a consultant. My consultant and I have become good friends over the years. She knows about my children, their learning styles, their difficulties, their strengths, and she has been great at advising me in certain curriculum choices. Even though MODG has a certain curriculum they recommend, it is no surprise that some children need alternatives. My consultant has been great in advising me when these alternatives are required. So, with that little plug for MODG ;), on to Jetter...

Jetter is my one child that I could describe as a "square peg in a round hole" when it comes to MODG. But, as I mentioned, my consultant has been very helpful in helping me to find the right fit for him. (I would also just like to add here that MODG provides special needs advisors for those children who have academic struggles.)

Even though Jetter has struggled in some areas of learning, he is extremely bright and quite creative. The questions he often asks, or the ideas he comes up with can be amazing. In regards to learning styles, Jetter is a strong visual learner. I sometimes call him "Eagle Eye" just for fun, or when I'm looking for something and need his help. He has an amazing ability to remember the smallest details and I try to use this ability when teaching him. This is one of the reasons that I am including more study of sight words in his curriculum this year. He is also a very mathematical thinker. He understands concepts that are way beyond his grade level.

Jetter's struggles come mostly in the area of relating what he knows, specifically anything written. He has always struggled with handwriting and shows all the signs of a person with disgraphia (I've been studying!). Early on, when math came easily to him but writing the answers was almost impossible, the Montessori Method came to the rescue. The manipulatives he was able to use helped him to grow in his knowledge of the concepts without being slowed down because he couldn't write those answers in a workbook. The same goes for his spelling. He is a very good speller, but couldn't write the words well enough to prove it. The Montessori Movable Alphabet really came in handy here. Now I have a program that I will describe later that also allows him to strengthen his spelling abilities without being hampered by poor writing skills.
So for Jetter, I will just say that while he might struggle with relating what he knows, he has no struggle knowing it!

I will also mention that Jetter's reading ability is not quite at grade level. This does cause some challenges as we try to follow the MODG recommendations, but it is not something I worry too much about. When Night Owl started homeschooling in 3rd grade, his reading abilities were not as developed as Jetter's. We just kept plugging away at it and by 6th grade he was devouring books like the Lord of the Rings series, the Redwall series and the Complete Sherlock Holmes. Better yet, he was comprehending what he was reading and was able to narrate them beautifully, in full detail. So, for Jetter, I'm not too worried. I will make necessary adjustments and we will continue to plug away at it. Reading every single day is the main strategy that I believe will help. Jetter will be doing more phonics, but I think that's mostly for my benefit. He really has a great understanding of many of the phonics rules. It's more of a need to apply them as he reads which will come with time and practice.

Here are the subjects Jetter will be studying and the materials we will be using ~

Math - Like Builder, Jetter will be using the Abeka Mathematics text. Typically, MODG changes in 4th grade to Saxon but I believe Abeka will be a better fit. For one thing, it is a workbook while Saxon is a textbook. Because Abeka is a workbook, Jetter will be able to write his answers directly into the book and that will be easier for him. One of Jetter's other struggles is that he is very easily distracted and he needs something that not only appeals to him visually (which the Abeka book should do) but it also needs to be challenging enough. If he is bored with a program it becomes very difficult to keep him on task. I think Abeka will provide the challenge he needs to stay focused.

I've also added another resource, called "Math It", for Jetter. His understandings of the mathematical concepts come easily but memorizing the math facts is more of a challenge. Trying to do long division, when you don't have the math facts memorized can be very tedious work! I'm hoping Math It will be a good resource for this.

Religion ~ In Religion, like Builder, Jetter will be studying in three areas - Bible, Catechism, and the Saints.
For Bible, Jetter has moved on from the Bible stories of the earlier years. He is now studying Bible History.
We will use Schuster's Bible History for this purpose. This book will be quite challenging to read for Jetter so I will be reading the book with him. For Catechism, Jetter will be using the Baltimore Catechism #1. For the study of the saints I've found something a little different for Jetter. This Holy Traders Activity Kit is sure to catch and hold his interest. For one thing, there are trading cards of the saints. For each trading card there is information to be read and a worksheet to complete. Then, the kit comes with storage pages so that he can keep his cards organized. I'm thinking we will study one saint a week, and after reading about that saint and finishing the workbook page, Jetter will get the card to keep in his organizer. Once again, I must say though, that Religion isn't just about the academics. It's the living of our faith that is so important. Jetter can more fully participate now that he has made his First Communion and First Confession.

Reading ~ I mentioned above that Jetter will be doing more work on phonics this year. For fourth grade Mother of Divine Grace does not give a specific resource for phonics or reading instruction. There is plenty of reading though! The phonics is actually combined with the recommended spelling program. I see the importance of this, and I appreciate that MODG does combine the various subjects (for example, writing is combined with history so the papers being written are about the history they are reading about). But for Jetter I've added a couple of the Explode the Code workbooks to keep some of the concepts fresh. We will also be working on the same sight words program that I am using for Builder, Sight Words in a Flash but at a different level of difficulty. Finally, there will be daily reading practice. I don't have a specific program for this because there are so many great books that MODG recommends for history. We will simply work our way through these. Jetter is also fond of the Magic Treehouse Books which we read occasionally and he enjoys reading on his own at bedtime. One thing for sure is that Jetter will always find something to read, or something he wants me to read to him. He is very curious about so many things and he has discovered that books are an excellent way to learn about them.

Handwriting ~ Here is another subject for which MODG does not give a specific recommendation. As I mentioned above, handwriting is a real struggle for Jetter. Night Owl struggled with it as well and I'm not exaggerating that his handwriting only became legible when he entered the high school years. But Jetter's struggles are different. Early on, I discovered the Handwriting Without Tears program. This has been an excellent program for Jetter. The products and methodology, described in the teacher's guides have really helped me to teach Jetter. I know that some say the font is not so pretty, but when you have a child that struggles so, it is a blessing to see legible handwriting. One very interesting thing I have found is that Jetter's cursive is nicer than the print. Perhaps it's the start/stop of the print that makes it more difficult. I don't know exactly, but his cursive is much more easy to read and he enjoys practicing it. Now, the really neat thing that I will be using with Jetter, besides the Handwriting Without Tears workbook, is something called Startwrite. This is actually a program for the computer that will allow me to create copywork for Social Butterfly and Jetter. I prefer the use of copywork for handwriting practice, to teach concepts in sentence formation, and other writing skills. I have had my eye on Startwrite for some time but couldn't see purchasing it because of Jetter's struggles. BUT, I have now discovered that Startwrite will allow me to use the Handwriting Without Tears font! I'm very happy about this. I will print off passages for Jetter to copy into his copywork notebook. This will be handwriting practice, but since I will use quotes from some of his favorite books it will be more interesting for him. I can go on and on about the value of copywork for teaching so many things, but that will have to be a post for another day. Here I am, using too many words again!

(Jetter and his good friends)

Language Arts ~ Speaking of copywork, MODG recommends a Language Arts resource in which copywork in already included. Because of this, Jetter will only do copywork that I have created for him using the Startwrite program on days that it is not already required by the MODG syllabus. For Language Arts, MODG recommends a book called Intermediate Language Lessons. This is a reprint from the original book which was published in 1914! I used this resource for both Night Owl and Social Butterfly and it works well in teaching them the Language Arts concepts they need to learn at this age. MODG describes it well with this quote:

"Intermediate Language Lessons includes all the elements that are appropriate for the language development of the student in this stage of formation. He works on patterns of language and that involves copying, dictation, conversation, usage exercises and creative writing. All of these are included in Intermediate Language Lessons."

Now, with Jetter's writing and reading struggles I have to admit I was a little concerned that this might be too difficult for him. I did find this version of the same book though. For one thing, it is larger (8 1/2 x 11), which will make it easier for Jetter to read. It also lays flat since it is spiral bound, and it is a "write in" book. This will be a big help to Jetter. The down side is that it makes the book consumable which means it will only last through one student. The other book was originally to be used for all the kids. But, one of the benefits of homeschooling is that we can do what is necessary for each of the children, to meet their needs.

Spelling ~ For spelling, Jetter will use the program called All About Spelling. This is the perfect fit for Jetter. For one thing, the program uses letter tiles to teach the concepts. This means Jetter doesn't have to focus so much on the writing, he can instead concentrate on the spelling rules. Another benefit is the use of a white board and instead of lessons, this program uses "levels". For some reason, this concept of levels is very motivational for Jetter. This program is a little more expensive that many spelling books, but it is non consumable and I will use it for the rest of the kids as well.

History ~ I love the history program through Mother of Divine Grace! The text book used, Our Pioneers and Patriots, is the same one I used for Night Owl and Social Butterfly. I have to say that my kids haven't been really fond of text books, but the additional reading MODG recommends makes the history come alive. I will be using some of the additional reading books as read alouds for the kids during our morning history reading time. Social Butterfly has already read them, but most are so well written, she wont mind hearing them again. Some of the other books will be books that Jetter uses for reading practice, as well as just free reading on his own. The list for 4th grade is quite long, so instead of listing each book, I will suggest that you go to The Mother of Divine Grace Booklist, found at the bottom of the link to see a list of the recommended books. Each of the kids will have a sketch journal that they will use for sketching as I read to them from many of these books. We started this last year when I read the book "Madeline Takes Command" and the sketches that all the kids did were very impressive! They were then able to use these sketches to retell the story in their own words. It was such an enjoyable exercise for all the kids (and me too!), I will make sure to include it more often this year. Along with American History, Jetter will also be sitting in to hear the read alouds from Social Butterfly's study of Ancient Egypt. As with Builder, I have some materials that Jetter can work on while listening. These are the Ancient Egypt Dot to Dot book (more difficult than it sounds!) and the Ancient Egypt Drawing Book. Jetter loves to draw so this will be something he really enjoys.

Geography ~ For geography, Jetter will continue to work on memorizing the states and capitols and work in a map skills workbook. Jetter is very interested in the study of maps so I will be incorporating more hands on work in this area. I'll have to post about that later though, as I haven't got all the details worked out yet. Night Owl was also a big fan of studying geography so I have many resources already at hand. It's just a matter of organizing them all.

Science ~ Jetter is very interested in the Solar System so I will follow that interest and we will be using the Apologia Astronomy Text. I find the Apologia books to be very interesting to read and the kids enjoy them which makes all the difference in the world. I will also be gathering materials for the many experiments and projects included in this book.

Latin ~ This will be the first year that Jetter studies Latin as a subject. We will be using the Prima Latina program which I also used with Night Owl and Social Butterfly. It is designed for teachers with no Latin background (Phew!) and begins very gently. As a matter of fact, most of what Jetter learns this year will be vocabulary, which is the fun part for most kids.

Poetry ~ Jetter will be using the same program that Builder will use, Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization. As I stated in the post for Builder, this is a program that we started using last year and both boys really enjoy the selection of poetry to be memorized. They also like hearing it recited on the CD by Andrew Pudewa, the author.

Finally, there are the subjects of Music, Art and Phys Ed. For music, Jetter will be taking piano lessons again this year. Music is something that often gets lost in the shuffle around here so I try to get the kids involved in lessons as soon as they are able. That ensures that it will get done! As far as listening to music, we do alot of that, it's the instruction that I don't often get to. Driving to, (and paying for!) piano lessons isn't something I always appreciate, but it ensures that the kids get proper instruction.

Art is, in some respects, the same because I don't feel like we get to it as much as we should. However, my children all love to draw and are very motivated to learn drawing techniques. This is good! I supply the materials and instruction books and they practice on a regular basis. At this point, Jetter says he would like to be an architect. I know he is young, and this can change, but it does encourage him to work on his drawing skills. I also find it interesting that while Jetter really struggles with handwriting, his ability to draw is pretty good. MODG recommends a very simple drawing book called the Drawing Textbook that is a great introduction to drawing. Once again, this is a resource I already have since Night Owl and Social Butterfly also used it. We will also have some fun art projects scattered throughout the year. These will be included in another post, but will involve various mediums like clay, wood working, and paint.

And then, for the grand finale, there is Phys Ed. As I said in the post regarding Phys Ed for Builder and Beany, I really don't feel that it is something I need to "teach". My kids are very active ... sometimes too active! For Phys Ed, besides the usual outdoor play, Jetter will also be involved in a sport. Like last year, he would like to play football again. With all the talk about Builder taking Tae Kwon Do though, he might be wavering in his choice. We'll have to see what the final decision is.

And there, in way too many words, you have the curriculum explanations for Jetter. One more to follow. Hopefully I can make Social Butterfly's post a bit shorter!

Planning 2: The Curriculum - Pre K and 1st grade

2010-07-05T11:15:00.001-04:00

The picture above is not an "Everyone! Come look at my beautiful display of books!" picture. It is an honest look at how I'm getting all our curriculum for next year organized. The table is a camping table that we dragged up from the basement and all the books were piled on top of it. At this point, everything is gathered (purchased or found on the bookshelves in the schoolroom) and divided by grade. In this post I will be talking about the pictured curriculum. It will be long, and a bit dry, but this is how I get all my thoughts organized on "paper". I'll take it by grade since the older the kids get, the more subjects they will have. (Editing to add that due to the length of this post I will be covering Beany and Builder here - preschool and 1st grade, and Jetter and Social Butterfly - 4th and 6th grades - in the following post.)

Beany ~ Beany will be three years old when our school year starts. At this age, truthfully, I don't believe a child needs "academics". They learn so much through their play and interaction with others. I do have a plan for him though because that insures some special one on one time for he and I. The basic idea for him is to follow something like the Read to Me and ABC program I've been reading about. Beany loves books so the "Read to Me" part will be a joy. We'll also use some of the ideas for ABC's learning, but I plan to simplify. I did purchase some folders as the author suggests and we will glue the decorated large letter to the outside of it. I will only be using a couple of the other activities though, because I don't think he's ready for too much of that.

Beany will also have his very own set of workboxes this year. The goal with these will be to teach him to work quietly while I work with the other kids. Four to five boxes will be enough and I'll be teaching him how to do them in order, from left to right. They will be filled with fun activities that he can do on his own. I'm hoping to get a sidebar list of all the workbox activities we use posted sometime in the near future.

He'll also have his own notebook. This will be for him to draw in while the rest of us do copywork at the dining room table.

The main goal for Beany is to simply teach him how to behave while we are doing school work. He'll need to learn how to sit at the table with the others and draw while they work, how to use the workboxes during some independent time, how to sit and listen to a story (this will not be difficult - he's always climbing onto my lap with a book!) and how to use things like crayons to color or decorate his letter folders.

One other goal for Beany will be developing his speech. He is slow to talk which has been a concern of mine. We are blessed to have a speech therapist living right next door who has worked with Beany in a casual way. She gives me lots of ideas and after a short time Beany has gone from barely any "real" words to talking in 2 and 3 word sentences. It's not perfect and we still need to work on it, but I'm relieved that he is progressing. Learning the letters and practicing their sounds will also help him in his ability to enunciate the proper sounds of words.

Builder ~ Builder will be in 1st grade this year. His focus subjects will be the "4 R's" - reading, (w)riting, religion and (A)rithmetic. We'll also be doing some of the other subjects, but they wont be part of his daily schedule. Many of them will be workbox activities since they lend themselves well to observation and exploration.

Reading will be a priority this year for Builder. Last year he learned the sounds of the letters and started blending them to read words. He is motivated to learn to read all the great books he finds so that will help.
I plan to use the Little Angel Readers as our main curriculum. I used these with Jetter and I think Builder will do well with them. I will also be doing some work with sight words. This is something I haven't done too much of with my children but I am seeing that reading fluency is developed more easily with sight word recognition. For this purpose, I had planned to simply make some cards and use this pocket chart. The new words will be placed in the red section, and as he learns them we will move them up to the yellow, and finally the green section. This will be very motivational for Builder (and Jetter as well) because of the levels. As I said, I had planned to make the cards, but then I saw these Sight Words in a Flash sets and bought them. I'm glad I did. They are very sturdy and will last through Jetter, Builder, and the littles that follow behind. They also come with holes punched in the top left corner and sturdy rings to put them on. I'm thinking that as they are learned they will "graduate" to the rings.
As an "add on" in the reading department I will also be working with Builder on narration. He seems to need some work in the "listening skills" area, and narration is a great method for this! As I have mentioned in the past we are enrolled with Mother of Divine Grace School . Using Aesop's Fables is recommended as an art activity. The child will listen to the fable and then retell it and illustrate it into a special notebook. We will do that, but I plan to do it on a weekly basis, which is more that Mother of Divine Grace recommends. We will cover one fable a week. I also plan to have Builder do copy work from the fables as handwriting practice. That Resource Site has some great printables for this purpose. This actually covers that second "R" I mentioned above - writing.

For Math, I will be using the Arithmetic 1 book from Abeka, as recommended by Mother of Divine Grace. This is a strong, thorough program and I think Builder will do well with it. Since Builder is a very "hands on learner" I will be supplementing with the many manipulatives we have on our school room shelves. The workboxes are a great place to add this manipulative work. Here is a picture of just a few of the manipulatives Builder will be learning to use this year. The abacus is not an official "Montessori Abacus" but I've used it with the other kids and it works just fine. The addition board is new this year and I think it will really help Builder with addition. The "Wrap Ups" will help him memorize his addition facts which I think is important.

Religion, is probably the most important "subject" we cover. This is because our Faith is very much a part of who we are. We try to live the Catholic Faith and through that living, teach our children. Attending Mass, going to Confession, reading the Bible, celebrating the feast days of the saints and our regular daily prayer times are all ways we try to live our faith. There is also a need to study Religion as an academic subject. This year, Religion for Builder will involve 3 different areas of study: the Bible, lives of the saints, and catechism.
For the Bible, we will read one story a week. These stories will be re-told (narrated) and illustrated into his notebook. Our study of the lives of the saints will be similar. We will be using the books Once Upon a Time Saints and More Once Upon a Time Saints by the same author. I've used these books with all of the children so far and they are enjoyable. For Catechism, Builder will be using the New Saint Joseph's First Communion Catechism . This is a simple and sweet explanation of our Catholic Faith. Jetter just loved the pictures and using them as a prompt, he was able to explain the concept taught in the lesson. This was a great review activity. I'm sure Builder will do well with this book too.

Beyond these basics, Builder will also be doing poetry memorization, some science and nature study, music, art and history.

For Poetry Memorization we started using Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization by Andrew Pudewa. This is a program I purchased last year and the boys did well with it. I think they found that they could more easily memorize the poems when they heard them read by Mr. Pudewa. They also enjoyed the selection of poems!

For Science and Nature Study I have a very simple plan of continuing our nature hikes. Inspired by these plans at Lapaz Home Learning I will be changing our approach a bit. In the past, we have taken nature hikes and allowed what we observed to inspire us to read further. This was fine but sometimes, I didn't have a good book with information about the animal or plant we saw, or the information we could find on line was too technical to arouse interest in my younger students. This year, as in the blog post above, I am going to plan some great books about nature that we will read first. Then, during the hikes (or just by looking out our window) we can hopefully observe that plant of animal in it's natural habitat. If not, that is okay as the book will still be a great source of information. Look for a list of these nature study books in the side bar soon (hopefully!). I also purchased a butterfly garden that Builder will enjoy this year. We will do a nature study focus on butterflies when it is time to open it.

For Music, Builder will eventually learn to play the piano but I don't feel that he is ready for that yet. Instead of learning an instrument this year we will concentrate on listening to, and learning about some of the great composers. Mother of Divine Grace recommends these picture books that come with CD's (there are more in this series) that I think Builder will enjoy, and the other kids as well.

I don't have any formal studies in history planned for Builder. Instead, I have the Exploring Ancient Egypt Fun Kit that Builder will enjoy working on during the history reading portion of our day. Social Butterfly will be studying Ancient Egypt this year and there are many books that I will be reading aloud to them in the morning. The coloring books, stickers, etc. in this kit will help Builder while I read some of these books that might have language that is above his comprehension. I actually purchased activities for all the kids that they can work on and still listen to the books being read. More about those later.

For Builder's Art lessons we will be using Art 1 For Young Catholics available from Seton. This book will not only provide art lessons but will also help us as we celebrate the Liturgical Year. I also have various art projects and supplies that will be used in Builder's workboxes. Simple cut and paste activities as well as projects using paint, pastels and clay will be included. I will write more about these later as they will involve all the kids.

(Builder, rock wall climbing)
Finally, there is Phys. Ed. I truly feel like I don't need to schedule any physical activity into our day for any of the kids because they are constantly running, jumping, climbing, etc. Sometimes I wish they weren't so active, but truthfully, I believe their good health is a result of the active play and time outdoors.
Having said that, I also believe it is important to enroll each of the kids in at least one sport a year. This isn't so much for their need for physical activity but for the other lessons involved: learning to play as a team member, listening to the coach, discipline, skills that come with each individual sport, etc. I usually give the kids a choice as to what they would like to do. This year, Builder is deciding between Tai Kwon Do (I'm not sure I've spelled that correctly!) and Flag Football. We're going to have to visit a few of the Tai Kwon Do classes to see what we think.

So there it is for Beany and Builder! Phew! I'll be posting about Jetter and Social Butterfly in an up and coming post.

Planning, 1

2010-06-29T11:03:00.001-04:00

Here is the first in a series of the before-mentioned planning posts for our 2010-2011 school year. Planning has a been a bit more difficult this year because we have several changes that will be factored in. For one, we will be moving our school room from the basement to the upstairs room that has been our "family room" for years. It's smaller, but it has more natural light and it will be a nice change. I don't have a picture of this room, but in this post, about mid way down, there is a picture of the wall to wall shelves in the basement school room that we will be giving up. Yikes! I think I'll plan to keep alot of our things down there and use it as a sort of library or storage area, only bringing up what we need, when we need it. The other change is on a much grander scale! We'll be blessed with a special Christmas gift this year that will change quite a few things! Due on December 23rd, our new arrival is sure to cause a bit of upheaval in our daily routine. That's okay though! It is a very welcome upheaval!

When I plan for a coming school year, I always start with the daily schedule. I'm not sure why I do this since it usually changes once we get into the school year, but I think it helps me to feel better knowing there is at least a plan for the day.
To keep things as simple as possible, we will follow the basic routine that I wrote about in this post:
Lesson Planner . It outlines the day's schedule as it describes the planner I created.

After a schedule works on paper, I decide on the curriculum we will use and place my book orders. This is a huge process and takes the most time. We are enrolled with Mother of Divine Grace so much of the planning has been done for me, but there are some things that I change, based on my children's needs, so there are still plenty of decisions that have to be made. In Planning post 2 I will be talking about the curriculum choices.

I also need to plan for the planning which will happen on a regular basis all year long. In the past I have planned weekly, usually on the weekend. This year I am going to try something a bit different. I'll be planning for 6 week periods. So, every six weeks, I will be taking the time to plan for the coming six weeks, and it will take a while I'm sure, but it will free up the other five weekends. I'm also going to build in a catch up week that will occur after each 6 week period. This week will be "unplanned" as far as academics go, and I will use it to catch up where we may have gotten behind, do extra work where a child might be in need, or simply have fun and take some field trips. In order to make this work so that we don't have to continue with school until next July, we will be starting our school year on August 1st this year. It is early, but usually by August the kids are starting to get bored, it's hot and humid so there isn't too much desire to be outside all the time, and they've had a long enough break that they are refreshed and ready to start back in. I think the promise of that lighter week every period will also make starting early a bit easier to handle.

The system I use for my planning is a bit complicated. I'm simplifying things this year and will talk about that in a future post as well.

Finally, there are the workboxes . These have become a regular part of our homeschool and we will continue with them. They are going to make the transition from the basement to the upstairs school room easier, I'm sure. Social Butterfly's system will change but Jetter and Builder will be using the same drawers that I mentioned in the workbox post above.

So that's a start! I'll be writing up a couple more posts on this whole planning thing which consumes me this time of year. I don't mind it, because I'm happiest when all my ducks are in a row. I just have to get the kids to cooperate! :)

Sounds of Summer

2010-06-22T14:43:00.001-04:00

Around the end of March, everyone, including Mom, starts wishing summer would arrive soon. We all think of sleeping in late and enjoying quiet peaceful mornings. I, personally, think of sitting quietly in the extended hours of stillness (because the kids are sleeping in) sipping my coffee and watching the river slowly move along.

However, this morning there was no quiet ripple of the river, no bird songs out the open window. Instead, I could hear myself yelling, as I banged on the bathroom door, "Social Butterfly, get OUT of the shower!" , and as I made my way down the hall, "Night Owl, get UP and get into the shower!" , and then "Everyone, get in here and eat your breakfast, right NOW!", and finally "Someone buckle Beany into his car seat - HURRY! We're going to be late!"

So much for quiet peaceful mornings. It seems like everyone is running in different directions this summer and I'm the only taxi driver on duty!

Wont it be nice when school starts up again and we all have a chance to just calm down and get back to a routine?!

Camping Pictures

2010-06-19T07:49:00.000-04:00

We're back from a great camping trip. I say "great" because of the time we spent as a family, enjoying each other's company and just relaxing together which we never seem to have much time to do otherwise. It was not so great weather-wise, but we made due. Actually, some of the best times we had came as a result of the bad weather!
I didn't get pictures of everything and I'm disappointed about that. There were blue lipped kids who insisted on playing at the beach and swimming even though the temperature never got above 60 degrees. There was the nature hikes we took and the beautiful wild flowers we saw. Then there was the rousing game of Cranium which came as a result of down-pours of rain and the need to stay in the tent with 5 kids for a long period of time! We actually drove to a little town near the state park to buy a new game just for this purpose! However, despite the cold and the rain we still had lots of fun.

There was plenty of fishing for Night Owl

Kayaking for everyone,

Both on, and off the water!

Trees that begged to be climbed, over and over again!

Play dough in the tent when it was too muddy to play outside:

Lots of time to just enjoy each other's company,

or just relax.

And of course there were chores to be done, which seem a little less like chores when you're camping.

As with all camping trips the highlight seemed to be the time spent around the evening camp fire.

We had a different treat each night. There were s'mores, of course. I have no pictures of that night because I was too busy doling out marshmallows and chocolate! We also made carmel corn in the dutch oven on the fire. That was a new experience! We all enjoyed the process of making it, and of course eating it!

We also made little pies with the pie irons. Night Owl and Dad were in charge of the cooking part. These irons get hot! But the raspberry pie filling was delicious!

So despite the rain and cool weather we all had a great time - even the dog!

Still here

2010-06-11T09:25:00.000-04:00

We're still here. I'm in packing and planning mode. I've also been receiving all that new curriculum I ordered for the coming school year and I've been going through it. There will be some more planning posts coming soon, as well as pictures from our camping trip!

Granola with Builder

2010-06-07T21:33:00.000-04:00

Builder likes to get up early on "Granola Making Morning" and help me out. He loves to eat it too, but I think the making it is his favorite. It's not something he can do independently because it involves chopping and a hot oven, but I have been working on teaching him to do some of the steps by himself. One thing I have done is create a picture recipe showing the various steps. We use a recipe from the More With Less Cookbook. This is a cookbook I've had for years and it is well worn. I've tried other granola recipes too, but this one is the standard. I've also made a few adjustments to make it gluten free. For example, instead of using wheat germ, we use flax seed and I make sure the oats are gluten free. This is what Builder's recipe looks like:

1 - Gather the ingredients for the pan. In this case, honey, oil and cinnamon.

2 - Gather the ingredients for the bowl. Today it will be oats, flax seed, sesame seed, sunflower seeds and almonds.

3 - Put the wet ingredients in the pan and stir it over medium heat until it is mixed together.

4 - Have mom chop the nuts. (In this case we used almonds, but we really like pecans!)

5 - Mix all the dry ingredients, including the nuts in the big bowl.

6 - Ask mom to help poor the hot liquid into the bowl, then mix it all together.

7 - Poor it into two cake pans and spread it evenly.

8 - Bake it at 325 degrees

9 - For 20 minutes.

10 - Have mom take the pans out and stir the granola then put them back in the oven.

11 - Bake it for another 10 minutes or until it just starts to turn golden brown.

12 - Have mom take it out and spread it on clean kitchen towels or cloth napkins to cool (don't use the fuzzy kind!)

YUM!

Finishing the Year, Highschool Version

2010-06-03T15:48:00.000-04:00

Just like the school year has come to an end here at the Academy of the Good Shepherd, it is coming to an end at Night Owl's school as well. He couldn't be happier! Some of the grand finale's for his year were:

His last track meet ~
He ran the "400" and the "4x4" which is a relay. He was also in the competition for discus throwing and came in 4th place. Lot's of 4's that day!

The fence that the throwers have to stay behind is really not so great for taking pictures, but after seeing a couple of wild throws, I'm glad it's there!

It was a very warm day! The little boys tried to keep cool with the little fans that came with their candy:

I'm not sure how well they actually worked though.

~Then there was the Science Fair. Remember when he grew this? Ewww!

If you didn't see that post, this is E-Coli Bacteria. He grew it in petri dishes and tested various cleansers to see which ones were most effective in killing it. I thought it was a wonderful idea for an experiment until I learned he actually had to grow the bacteria! He found out that some cleansers work only on direct contact, and some have more of a "spread". His actual experiment was to compare the spread or "Measure of Inhibition" which it is technically called. We learned alot about bacteria and what kills it. I am very happy to have it out of the house!

~Then, there was this that came in the mail. I can say without hesitation that I am a proud Mama! This is a congratulatory letter for being accepted into the National Honor Society. You can try clicking on it to make it bigger:

~Finally, yesterday was the awards ceremony where he received the awards for good grades. My pictures all turned out blurry for that so I'm sorry to say I don't have any to share.

He's not completely done. He still has a few days of final exams next week. But it's slowly coming to an end. I'm so glad. It's time to start packing for a camping trip. We're all looking forward to that! (Uh, the trip I mean. Not the packing!)

Finishing the Year

2010-05-30T08:30:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we had some fun wrapping up a couple of the programs we've been doing this year. We ended the delightful day with a May Crowning.

The girls all met for their last meeting of "Tea And Cake With the Saints". This has been a lovely program for the girls in our homeschool group. The boys all came here to play, although a few escaped before I could take the picture!

After the girls were done, the boys and I loaded up in the van and went over to where the girls were and we did our final meeting for Catholic Mosaic, boys and girls together. We read the wonderful new book, Take It to the Queen! and did a cute craft. A friend told a little story about how the Lady Bug was named for Our Lady, so of course, the craft was all about Lady Bugs! Very easy to make with a thumbprint and Sharpie marker!

We had the all important snack which consisted of lemonade and trail mix that the girls had made during Tea and Cake, then ended with a beautiful May Crowning.

The three boys who made their First Communion this year had the honor of crowning Mary. What a great way to end the school year!

GF Coping Strategies

2010-05-21T08:51:00.000-04:00

Going gluten free hasn't been easy around here. I've had to make lots of adjustments, but, by the grace of God, I am finding ways to make it work. I thought I'd share a few of these helps in case there are others making this change. So here are a few tips from a newby GF family:

1 - GF mixes. Yes, they are more expensive than buying individual GF flours and mixing them, but in the beginning, it's nice to have them ready to go. I wont buy alot of prepackaged GF foods, but these mixes make it easier to make my own. Two that I like especially are Pamela's Baking Mix and Kinnikinnik Bread Mix. We made hamburger buns with the latter and they turned out great.

2 - GF pasta. My kids don't like it! I buy Tinkyada Brand because that's the best we've tried (and I like the name :) but my kids still say "Oh, it's gluten free pasta" in a not-too enthused tone. But! I discovered that if I put the pasta, dry, in the crockpot with sauce and some water and let it cook 4-6 hours, nobody complains. Doing it that way, the pasta absorbs the flavors of the sauce and you don't get that GF flavor that my kids are not used to yet.

3 - Variety. When we went GF we discovered just how often the kids had toast for breakfast. I knew it was alot, we were going through tons of bread. We haven't found a GF bread we like that well, so we came up with a rotating breakfast menu. There is no toast on it but the kids are doing great with it. Here are a few of the items we've been eating more of - with pictures even!

~ Eggs. Boiled, scrambled or fried. We are eating alot more eggs around here. Builder really doesn't like eggs. I understand, because as a child I didn't either. But I found a simple way to make it bearable for him. We call them "starry eggs". They are just scrambled eggs, cooked inside a cookie cutter in the pan, with melted cheese on top. He still doesn't LOVE them, but he complains less. Here's a picture:

~ Waffles! We actually won a waffle maker at a recent school fundraiser we attended and it gets used alot. Pamela's mix comes to the rescue here. Social Butterfly has become the official waffle maker and she does a great job! I buy real maple syrup, and the kids gobble them up!

~ The other thing we've been eating more of is granola. I've always enjoyed making granola, and making it GF is really no big deal. My breakfast kitchen helper, Builder, enjoys making it too. Lots of "cups of this and cups of that" to add to the big bowl and mix! Here, builder is spreading a batch out on clean towels to cool:

4. Chicken Strips. This was a tough one. My kids love chicken strips, especially Jetter. He judges a restaurant by how good the chicken strips are. He's a real connoisseur of chicken strips, let me tell you!

My husband's cousin, who has a son on the GF diet, taught me to make them at home though, and it's so easy! We actually purchased a fryer for this purpose. I've always avoided fryers because I thought that was such an unhealthy way of preparing food. But if my kids are going to order fried chicken strips in restaurants, or if I'm going to buy frozen strips so they can eat them at home, what's the difference? Actually, they probably eat them less now because I have to fry them. To make them, simply cut up raw chicken breast, dip it in GF flour, then egg, then cornmeal mixed with salt and pepper. Into the fryer they go until they are done. Yum!

5. Special Treats. I really want my kids to know that just because we are eating GF, it doesn't mean that food has to be boring. There are all kinds of prepackaged GF treats out there, and occassionally I buy them. I'm much happier when we are eating something homemade though. The baking mixes mentioned above are really helpful for this. The Pamela's Baking Mix makes some pretty good chocolate chip cookies! We've also found that some of our old favorites are actually gluten free, like "No Bake Cookies"! (Just check the oats to make sure they are gluten free.)

Recently, a neighbor gave us some rhubarb. I've never cooked anything with rhubarb, but with the help of Pamela's mix and my new cookbook, my morning kitchen helper and I made this rhubarb crisp for breakfast. It was a great way to try something new. (Note: Simply in Season is not a GF cookbook. I just adjust the recipes.)

As I find more ways to cope with this new diet, I will add them to the blog. If you have some GF tips put them in the comment box and I'll post them!

My Creative Daughter

2010-05-19T09:12:00.000-04:00

As the days get warmer and the school subjects gradually get completed my kids are finding more time for free activities. For the boys, this isn't always a positive thing. Yesterday, their free time was mostly taken up with the task of moving the wood pile. This was not a voluntary activity, but one given to them by Dad because of something else they chose to do during their free time. Anyway, I'm sure they wont make that choice again! They were quite proud of their moved wood pile though. I'm a firm believer that boys need physical labor at times.
Social Butterfly, on the other hand, has been using her free time quite creatively. First, and of primary importance, is the yearly lemonade stand she sets up. She's already got the neighbors asking when it will be open! She amazes me. Definitely and entrepreneur. The name of her stand is "The Pink Lemon". She sells a variety of beverages, including pink lemonade and even a sugar free version because we have a neighbor who is diabetic. She's learned to use the money she makes to buy the lemonade ingredients and even occasionally offers "sweet deals" like a free cookie for every cup of lemonade on Saturdays. This year she's going to "hire" her little brothers to hang signs for advertising purposes. She's working on the signs now and I'll post a picture when they are complete - cute!
She's also been going through my bags for Good Will and pulling out various purses I have decided to get rid of. Some of these are quite old and ugly and some were hers that she no longer uses. Her task has been to "re-do" these to make them beautiful again. She's mostly using fake gem stones for this purpose and they are turning out pretty cute. Here's some pictures of my creative daughter and her crafts:

Fresh Air

2010-05-13T09:58:00.000-04:00

I'm sure those of you with children that suffer with asthma will find this story all too familiar:

One evening, a few weeks ago, as we put the little ones to bed I was keenly aware of the slight weazing noises that Beany was making. He had a cold and often lately, for him, colds go into asthma. I chose to go ahead and put him to bed, seeing that he didn't seem to be struggling. An hour later I awoke to the sound of that barky, high pitched cough. I picked him up and he pushed away, which is how he responds to the panic of not being able to breathe. So, I quickly got the black bag out and started the nebulizer and Beany just layed there and breathed the mist, knowing that it would help. Breathing treatment over, I put him back to bed (in our room) and went to sleep again, satisfied that all would be okay now, at least for a couple of hours.

An hour later I awoke again, this time to a different barky, high pitched cough, accompanied by the sounds of crying. I ran (Dad says "flew") from my room to the hall where Builder was standing, trying to catch his breath in the midst of coughing and wheezing. Builder has never had a problem with asthma so I assumed this must be croup. Having had several children to the emergency room early on in our parenting years, I knew they would treat this with a breathing treatment. So I started up the nebulizer again and explained to Builder how to breath with the apparatus so the medicine gets to his lungs. It seemed to calm him, although I could still hear the wheeze, so we went back to bed. Now both of the youngest were in our room. I layed there in the dark, watching the full moon, and listening to the relatively quiet breathing of Beany, and the still-to-tight-to-not-worry-about-it breathing of Builder. Not fifteen minutes later, Builder asked if he could do the "breathing machine" again. I said "no, it was too soon" and felt like a terrible mom for depriving my child of air. What could I do? Can a child overdose on albuterol? At that point Dad got up and thought perhaps Builder was just still a little panicked about not being able to breathe earlier. He closed our bedroom door, we got out the big quilts, and we opened both the windows. Cool, fresh air drifted in. As I felt it on my face I knew Builder could feel it too. "Breathe the fresh air Builder. Isn't that nice? That will help." I wasn't positive as I said these things, but I knew I had to ease his fears. I also knew I might be taking him to the ER soon. A few minutes later I heard "Mom! It's helping!" and sure enough, as he drifted off to sleep I could just hear the sound of his steady breathing.

As I layed there, thinking about the panic these little ones must feel when they are deprived of something as basic as air, I thought about the panic I often feel in my own life. Not because I can't breathe in the literal sense, but rather the stifling feeling of being overly burdened. There is always so much to do, to worry about, to plan for. The house that is never as clean as I would like, the children's education, all the extra exciting things in our life that cause joy, yet stress. I thought of how sometimes I feel as though I'm drowning and no matter how hard I paddle I just can't get my head above water enough to really breathe.

So where do I find my "fresh air"? It takes a little more than just getting out of bed and opening a couple of windows. It takes being quiet enough to hear that "still, small voice", being quiet enough to receive His peace. It's not easy to find that quiet in a house full of small children but with a little effort, it's not impossible. And when I do, it's like that cool air on my face. It reminds me that He is with me, blessing me with grace to do all that He has required of me. Strengthening me to embrace each new adventure that comes along.

EEWWWW!

2010-05-13T08:22:00.000-04:00

Can you guess what this is?

Before I tell you, let me explain. For his final exam grade for Biology, Night Owl has to do an experiment, write up a paper with the results, and display everything. He came to me with what I thought was a great experiment idea. He was going to test the various cleansers on the market, including the "green cleansers" (like Tea Tree Oil) to see which ones were most effective in killing bacteria. "Great idea!" I said, because I really want to know.

But ... I didn't think about the fact that, in order to test cleansers on whether or not they killed bacteria, he would need to grow the bacteria first. So, I now have E-Coli growing in my basement! Yes, E-Coli. This picture was taken when he first set up the experiment. It's down in the storage room of the basement where the little kids are afraid to go! We used an old sliding door for a table. The candle isn't for light, but for sterilizing the metal instrument he had to use to sterilize the Agar before putting the bacteria on it.

I assure you that he followed strict procedures for keeping the area sterile and the little petri dishes have been well sealed so the little buggers can't escape. I will be so thankful when this experiment is done with though, and all the E-Coli critters are safely disposed of. I'm also curious about the cleansers. I have to admit, I'm a bit disappointed about what he's finding so far :(. I'll post the end results when it's all said and done.

Gluten Free Badge

2010-05-11T13:25:00.002-04:00

You may have noticed the new "Gluten Free Badge" over on the side bar. I think we've been messing around here with this gluten free thing for a couple of years. When we discovered that Beany had a problem with gluten we went 100% gluten free ... for a while. The results were very positive. Beany started growing again, and his "asthma" disappeared. But the positive results did not just affect Beany. Builder and Jetter also had some interesting changes. Jetter, for one thing, slowed down. He was actually able to concentrate. His handwriting became legible, and he no longer dealt with asthma. Builder became less emotional. His temper tantrums just about ceased and he stopped telling me his stomach hurt. He was the happy starry-eyed kid I remembered from a few years ago. I wondered if all this could actually be the result of eliminating gluten from our diet. But really? I mean, Builder and Jetter's problems weren't really physical ... I didn't think. The gluten free diet is very difficult and over time I decided that Jetter and Builder had just matured beyond their problems. I decided that I would keep Beany on the gluten free diet but we could lighten up with everyone else. They were thrilled to have their "real" pizza and pasta back. Night Owl has become an amazing cook and he treated us each weekend with his delicious pizza.
Of course, this lasted for only a while. Pretty soon Beany began to realize that his pizza looked different than ours. He started to notice that while he got plain tortilla chips the other kids were getting that orange powdery looking stuff on theirs and theirs tasted really good! He also decided he really wanted Social Butterfly's peanut butter sandwich instead of his own.

I don't remember when, probably sometime in January, Beany ate a regular piece of bread. He devoured it. He must have thought it tasted really good! I dreaded the next day thinking I would see all kinds of terrible results, but nothing happened. Okay, so that was no big deal. We just wont let it happen again.

Some weeks later, there was another incident where he had gluten. Probably Jetter's birthday when it was too hard to tell Beany he couldn't have any of that wonderfully blue birthday cake. Then there was Social Butterfly's birthday in March and of course there was vacation when we ate all kinds of food we normally try to avoid. Finally, April hit and I looked around at the kids and realized some changes had been taking place, slowly, so I didn't notice until they were full-blown. I noticed Jetter was once again getting into trouble all. the. time for not behaving during school time. Builder was whining, whining, whining, and "starving" all the time. And Beany was no longer gaining wait, but had actually lost a few pounds. And then there was that nebulizer that had spent and entire year packed away in the cupboard. It was now sitting out on the counter in regular use. Finally, a couple of weekends ago, I spent the day in the emergency room with Beany. Enough is enough. Dad and I had a long talk about it and while eating gluten free isn't easy, and can be a bit expensive, we realized that this is something we have to do for Beany, and in some ways for Builder and Jetter too. So I pulled out my GF cookbooks, went to the library to borrow a couple more, changed all the menus back to what they used to me, and we're restarting this journey. I've realized that the GF diet can't be something special we do for Beany, it actually involves some lifestyle changes. We have to say "good-bye" to that fast food restaurant we like to stop at after piano lessons, no more ordering pizza, Night Owl is experimenting to find a crust recipe that doesn't really taste gluten free, and we're learning that many restaurants have gluten free menus, you just have to ask. So it's a big change, and it's not easy because the kids really don't like the different taste of gluten free foods. I just keep telling them they'll get used to it and we keep on. After a week I'm seeing those positive results again and I'm encouraged.

I'm hoping to post some links to various gluten free sites to offer encouragement to those who are on this same diet. If you know of any, please leave the information in the comment box.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T09:15:00.000-04:00

A Mother's Day Prayer from Magnificat :

Loving Father,

as a mother gives life and nourishment to her children,
so you watch over your Church.
Bless these women,
that they may be strengthened as Christian mothers.
Let the example of their faith and love shine forth.
Grant that we, their sons and daughters,
may honor them always
with a spirit of profound respect.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Lesson Planning

2010-05-08T17:42:00.000-04:00

After using a different lesson planner for each of the 8 years we've been homeschooling, I finally decided to come up with my own. Nothing seemed to work exactly the way I wanted it to. Part of the problem is that my planning involves times when I am working with the kids as a group, times when they will work with me individually, and times when they will work independently. My lesson planners usually ended up with lots of sticky notes added, or notes scribbled in the margins.
To make the planner I first thought about our daily routine. We start together, then we have some time individually, then we end all together again. I divided our day, according to this basic routine, into blocks. In a previous post I wrote about how we have settled into a nice routine that includes some mini-breaks throughout the day. This is still working well for us and the blocks of time are divided by these breaks.

I will be planning for 6 weeks at a time. I'm finding this works well as six weeks seems to be a good length for most "units" we will study in science or history. Planning in advance will also free up the weekend time that I usually spend writing lesson plans. We'll see. I've only planned for six weeks in advance once so far.

The planner is organized in a 3 ring binder. When I print it, I will print pages 1 and 3 back to back. These will be put into a page protector in the binder. Then I will make 6 copies of page 2. These will go behind that page protector. Obviously, pages 1 and 3 are for the entire 6 weeks, and page 2 is a weekly page so there needs to be 6 of them. Hopefully, that will all make sense when you see the examples below. I don't know how to make a pdf file, so I just scanned these. You can click on them to make them bigger.

Below is page 1.

Under the dates at the top there is a section for the History Selection which I will read aloud to the kids. This reading aloud during breakfast has become something the kids really enjoy. This is not a time to read text books, but historical fiction that all the kids find interesting.

Following the history read aloud, once the children are done with their breakfast, we do copy work. Copy work used to be one of the subjects the kids did during their independent work time, but I really want to stress that they do this neatly. So, we all do it at the dining room table together. Once the kids learn the proper formation of the letters for handwriting, copywork takes the place of handwriting practice. You can see on the planner that there is a different topic for copywork each day. Monday, it is a selection taken from their language arts book, Tuesday it is a selection from one of the pieces of literature we are reading, Wednesday the selection is from the coming Sunday's gospel, and Thursday the copywork is from a saint that we are currently reading about. (Friday we don't do copywork.)

Finally for page 1 there is a table for our Religion lessons. Above the table there are the numbers 1-6, followed by "O"s. These are my attempt at a reminder for me to go over each child's Catechism questions with them daily. I'm not always good at doing this so I'm hoping that the need to check that "O" will be a good reminder.

Page 2 is to be copied 6 times, one for each week of the six week period. For some reason, a couple of the column lines aren't showing up, but you can tell where they should be.

These are essentially the workbox plans. We use this page when we are in the classroom where the kids work independently and I rotate through each of them, spending time on those subjects they are having difficulty with, or those subjects that we do orally together. In the boxes below the table there are places to write in and check off the kid's daily read aloud selection and memory work.

Finally, page 3 is to be printed on the back of page 1. This will be stored in the page protector.

Page 3 is a plan for our afternoons, which we spend together.
It begins with the Science selection that I will read aloud to the kids while they eat their lunch. Like the morning history read aloud, this is a part of the day the kids all enjoy. As they eat, or when they are finished eating, they create sketch journals of the topic we are studying about.

The table near the top will be mostly for Jetter next year. The science program we will use comes with an activity book. Social Butterfly will be doing a hands on program called TOPS. She and a friend will do that together once a week. Builder's science will be covered during our weekly nature hikes.

There are more "O"s on this page. These are a reminder to have each of the kids recite the piece of poetry that they are currently memorizing. This is the part of our day that we call "Tea Time" even though I'm the only one that likes tea! We will start with poetry recitation, then I will read from a book of poetry, just for the enjoyment of listening to it. Finally, I will read aloud, once again, from a book. For this read aloud time, I don't read from a specific subject, but from a book that we are just enjoying for literature. It's taken us most of this year to get through Redwall, but everyone has enjoyed it.

We will end this time with either picture study, the study of an artist, or learning about a composer for music.

For next year, the kids will still receive their assignment sheet, which will be mostly the same as the one they are using this year. This assignment sheet is only for those subjects that are done independently, during "Workbox Time".

This system seems to be working well for us and I enjoy having things mapped out six weeks at a time. Page 2 of the planner is the one that will occasionally be changed if we get behind or if something new is added at the last minute, but it is a good guide to keep us headed in the right direction.

Library Rules

2010-05-06T09:34:00.001-04:00

After neglecting our local library for some time, the kids and I managed to get there yesterday. On the way I decided we should talk about library behavior. As the kids were all chiming in with things we do and don't do in the library, Builder said "I know! The 3 W's: Walk, Whisper and Wread!"
Of course, I had to quiet the comments by older siblings who know how to spell a bit better, but it worked! When one of them started to get a bit squirrelly, I just whispered "remember the 3 W's"! Now I'll have to spend the summer re-teaching some spelling rules, but it was worth it!

Prayers for Night Owl

2010-05-01T09:23:00.000-04:00

Night Owl left this morning at 5:20 for the Science Olympiad State Finals. The State Finals are held at Michigan State University. There was a mistake in the scoring of the Regional competition and we later found out the school Night Owl goes to actually took 1st place! The state competition is much larger. He's been working hard on his projects and we're hoping he scores well. Please keep him him your prayers!

Track

2010-04-29T09:26:00.000-04:00

Night Owl is involved with track again this year. He's not running as much though, which pleases his football coach who doesn't want him to lose too much weight. This year Night Owl has been throwing discus and shot put. He really enjoys it, and is learning very quickly. I took these pictures at the meet yesterday. The one above is the only good picture I took of the shot put. The three below are the discus throw. I love the determined look on his face! (Click on the pictures to make them bigger.)

Jetter's First Communion

2010-04-27T10:05:00.000-04:00

Another very special day for Jetter! On Saturday, April 24th, he received his First Holy Communion. He was so excited, and nervous about this big event.
God bless you Jetter! We are very proud of you!

Of course, not everyone was quite so excited!

Can I Count This as School?

2010-04-20T08:36:00.000-04:00

My kids are all running here and there this morning. Social Butterfly was working very hard on "a secret" yesterday. This morning she got up early and showed me all the little clues she had written so her brother's could have a treasure hunt. There were about 50 clues! She hid them before the boys were awake, and now they are searching for the mysterious treasure. Any time I try to rope them in so we can start our day I hear "Oh please! Just a few more minutes? We need to find these clues!" They are so excited! I hate to tell them, but at the end of this grand hunt there is a ziplock bag of leftover cookies for their treasure... the cookies nobody wanted yesterday. Ah well, I guess they are reading and Beany is having the time of his life with all this excitement!

There isn't any snow or fog for a 1 hour school delay, so I guess we'll call this a "Treasure Delay".

A Big Day for Jetter

2010-04-15T14:52:00.001-04:00

Tuesday evening Jetter was Confirmed. The Bishop came and did Confirmations for the area churches. It was a huge crowd. Jetter was so nervous at first, but relaxed once the ceremony started. We are so proud of the fine young man he is growing up to be!

Next step, First Communion on the 24th!

Pictures from Spring Break

2010-04-08T12:03:00.000-04:00

I don't have much time to blog but I wanted to at least post some pictures from our trip to Willimsburg VA, and Southport NC where we visited with family. It was a great trip! (You can click on the picture if you want to make them bigger.)
First stop: The Governor's Mansion at Williamsburg. The kids are waiting for our tour to start:

Builder was impressed with the many swords and guns that hung on the

walls:

Outside the Mansion:

Inside the Printers Shop. This was one of many shops that we visited. We learned quite a bit. Some of the favorites were the Dress Maker, the Blacksmith, The Gunsmith, and of course, the gift shop!

Lunch at Shield's Tavern was fun, but we really enjoyed our dinner at the King's Arm's Tavern. There, we were visited by a School Master, the wife of the proprietor of the establishment, and even a musician. Here is a picture from Shield's Tavern:

On to North Carolina. We really enjoyed the ocean, even the first few days when we had to wear jackets!

Of course, the only days I remembered the camera were the cold ones!

Beany really enjoyed watching the many flocks of seagulls that flew over head. Here he is on his new friend:

We loved our loooong deck that took us right out to the beach! Jetter and Beany are waiting at the end:

Mom Mom and Social Butterfly:

Ditto!

Pop Pop serving the wonderful dinner that he, Mom Mom and Aunt "Dinky" brought:

Night Owl caught 7 sharks while he was fishing. Here, he is cutting up the last of one that he prepared for dinner:

Mom Mom, Aunt "Dinky" and Dad. (Dad's the one scowling!):

Another picture but Dad doesn't look quite so grumpy:

Pop Pop played "sword fighting" with Builder and Beany:

Unfortunately, the kids passed around a flu-bug during our last couple of days of vacation:

Despite the sickness though, we really enjoyed our visit. We're looking forward to our next trip!

Workbox activity for Lent

2010-03-21T18:13:00.000-04:00

Here's a great workbox activity for Lent! The children will make a Stations of the Cross booklet. I recently discovered That Resource Site and I've been spending lots of time there, finding some great activities for the kids.

As we've been praying the stations this Lent, I have our pictures hanging form our mantel. The pictures are from CHC . Social Butterfly and I found some glass votive candle holders at JoAnn Fabrics and they are working beautifully. The children are much more reverent during prayer when the candles are lit - even Beany!

The Logic Of a Six Year Old

2010-03-21T15:40:00.000-04:00

Builder ran outside to play when the sun came out this afternoon. Because we have a dog, and because the yard is quite muddy from all the melting snow, AND, because he had just put on his new shoes, I yelled "Be careful where you walk in your new shoes Builder!" It shouldn't have surprised me when he stopped, looked down, took off his shoes, and carried them the rest of the way, without a worry about where he might step in his bare feet!

Science Olympiad

2010-03-21T15:33:00.000-04:00

Night Owl took the silver medal in one of his competitions. His school took the bronze medal over-all.
Great job kids!

Praying for Night Owl

2010-03-20T07:28:00.000-04:00

I'll be leaving in a few minutes to take him to the next Science Olympiad competition. This is the state competition. We hope everyone on the team does well!

Adjustments

2010-03-19T09:37:00.001-04:00

Sorry about the never ending changes in backgrounds here! I haven't found the one that fits just right. I'm really frustrated at the moment because I can't figure out how to get that banner centered!

Solemnity of Saint Joseph

2010-03-19T09:14:00.002-04:00

Go here for a beautiful prayer to Saint Joseph on this special feast day!

Planning Notes

2010-03-18T19:13:00.002-04:00

I mentioned that I am in planning mode here. I think I'm always in planning mode! It is one of my favorite things to do. Currently, I'm planning for several things but the most long term topic is school for next year. Reading this thread over at the 4Real Learning Forums has inspired me to post about what I've been thinking in this regard. I still basically follow the method I spoke about here:
http://academyofthegoodshepherd.blogspot.com/2009/09/boxes-binders-bins-and-bags-part-3.html

But I tend to tweak things when I find something that works better, so I've made a few minor adjustments.

When a new year begins I immediately set up a file on my computer called "Notes for Next Year" and make notes there all year long. Then, about this time of year I go through them all and evaluate what is working, and what needs to be changed for the coming year. As far as weekly planning goes, it's mostly working but I've included the use of clipboards for each of the kids, along with an assignment sheet.
This assignment sheet originated when we broke away from the workboxes for a while. But now, as we're returning to our workboxes, I see the benefit of the assignment sheet and have continued it.
As you can see in the pictures below (click to make it bigger), they are pretty basic. I keep them very general on purpose. I don't need to write the lesson numbers in subjects like math, because we just follow the book and do one lesson a day. I don't need to write the title of the book they need to read for history because it will be in their workbox. All this information is written in my own plans though so that I can keep track of where we are. So, why bother with the checklists? Because I've discovered that my kids are like me - they are much more productive when they have a sense of accomplishment that comes from making that little check mark in the box. For Social Butterfly, who doesn't have workboxes, it also ensures that she accomplishes all of her assignments for the day. Notice there is also a checkbox for chores and piano practice.

So this is one of those things that I noted, in my file, as "working". The only thing I would like to change about these checksheets is their appearance. There are several examples of beautiful plans in the thread that I linked to above and they've inspired me to add a little beauty to our plans as well. My children and I are very visual. They notice the little clip art picture I try to change now and then and even the font if I change it. I would love to give these checksheets a more attractive appearance since my kids have to look at them all day.

The one other thing I would like to change a bit is the plans I make in my own lesson planner. This is the record I keep of the pages we will read, the lessons numbers, etc. Currently, I plan for each week. I would like to change this to a monthly plan, or maybe even six weeks. There are things we study in science or history that usually take 4-6 weeks to complete, like a unit. Planning for a month or so at a time will help me to categorize by unit a little better.

For now, these are just ideas. I'll be sharing what I come up with once I get it figured out.

.............. .Planning

2010-03-16T07:43:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the quiet. We're in planning mode here! It seems that all my time on the computer is taken up with planning for various events. Here's my current list. (You can see why I'm a bit frazzled lately!)

Social Butterfly's Birthday - March 17th

Dad's Birthday - March 29th

Vacation to North Carolina - Spring Break

Jetter's Confirmation - April 14th

Jetter's First Communion - April 24th

School for next year. (Yes, already making plans!)

Add to the above the need to plan on a weekly basis for our school work, menus, shopping lists, etc.

This is a busy time but you know, I really love the planning! Everything looks so nice all layed out on paper. The hard part is when things don't go as planned, which happens often around here. I think God is trying to remind me that He is ultimately in charge! So I'll make these plans making sure we have the right clothing for each event, the right food packed or prepared, the right gifts purchased, the right curriculum for each child and their individual needs ... But God will decide how things go. I just trust and know that His plan is the best!

...................Interesting Conversation

2010-03-03T14:42:00.001-05:00

These two boys can be best friends one day, worst enemies the next. I suppose that's pretty normal for brothers. When they are getting along, their conversations can be quite interesting.

Here's one I overheard today that I thought was particularly amusing. First the setting: The two boys were playing with their Legos and for some reason or another they started arguing.
Jetter: "Well, your ugly"
Builder: (silence)
Jetter: (Feeling guilty now because he really is a good hearted kid) "No, you're not really ugly. You probably look good enough to get married, if you weren't going to be a priest."
Builder: "Yah, it's a good thing I'm going to be a priest. I'd probably have 100 ladies fighting over who would get to marry me."
Jetter: "Yep."

Builder has been saying he's going to be a priest for a long time now, which is interesting in itself because he's the one that always gets in trouble for misbehaving at Mass. I think he's going to have to grow in humility before he becomes a priest though. I'd say he's a bit vain.

.........................Seasonal Changes

2010-02-26T09:02:00.002-05:00

Sometimes I feel like we should be called "Seasonal Homeschoolers". It seems that our routine changes with the seasons. For years this has been a frustration to me, but this year ( finally after 8 years of homeschooling) I've come to accept it. Perhaps it's my personality, or maybe my children's, but either way we seem to crave a different order to our day as the seasons change. I believe, within the structure of the homeschool environment, this change can be freeing and add new life to our day.

For the current year, I can look back and clearly see the changes I made with each new season. In short, it went like this: Because we ended last year with a bang using workboxes, I decided that we would start this year with the same routine. It didn't work so well, so I changed it.
With the beginning of Advent, and the start of winter, our basement school room seemed to become rather dreary, so we moved upstairs to the dining and sunrooms where there is more natural light. The routine changed a bit more.
Now, as we are into Lent, and the thought of Spring is on the horizon, I'm thinking workboxes again! We'll make that change after we take our Spring break. For the most part, these changes are all very positive and the kids respond well. Where something had begun to get stale, the little change brings new life and the kids are enthused again. It reminds me of when I was a classroom teacher and the bulletin boards were changed for the new season. The kids and teacher both were energized by the changes to the environment.

For those that might be interested I've posted our current routine, or schedule below. You can see I've built in some breaks. During this season, we seem to need some mini-breaks throughout our day. It's working better than our previous routine of getting all the work done and taking one long break. The mini-breaks seem to help the kids (and maybe Mom too!) stay on task and focus on their school work. I've also set it up in sort of a "block schedule". After each block, we take a little break. You'll see some times for each "block". These are our guidelines. I don't worry about being exact, but they help me to stay on track. If we're supposed to start our Math at 10:00 and it's 10:15 I don't worry. However, if I look at the clock and it says 11:00, then I know we need to get moving!

Our Current Routine:
1st Block ~ 8:00 ~ Getting Started:
The kids are all up by now. Morning chores are done. We say our morning prayers together and then we have breakfast. During breakfast I read from our current history read aloud. The kids draw if they finish breakfast and I'm still reading. (I'll be posting about what they are drawing soon!)

Mini break until ...

2nd Block ~ 9:30 ~ Religion:
During this time I work with Jetter and Social Butterfly on their Religion. They both use the same resource each day, but at different levels. It's working well. Builder plays with Beany. I will do Religion with Builder in the next block.

Mini break until we move down to the school room for:

3rd Block ~ 10:30 ~ Math
Jetter and Social Butterfly work mostly independently while I do Religion and the other subjects with Builder. Since Builder is doing kindergarten work, it doesn't take too long to go through his Religion, Math, Handwriting and Reading. We usually finish about the time the others are finishing up their Math.

Snack and Mini break until ...

4th Block ~ 11:30 ~ Language Arts
During this time I cycle through the kids and we do spelling, handwriting, reading, copywork, grammar, etc. Social Butterfly also has Latin during this time. Because I don't know where else to put it, this is also the block of time during which geography and written history work are done.

5th Block ~ 1:00 ~ Lunch and Science
While the kids eat their lunch I read to them from our current science book. After eating the kids pull out their science notebooks and do the sketches or other activities that go with the day's lesson. This is working so well this year. The kids are really enthused about each of the units we've studied.

Big Break during which I require the kids to get some form of exersize. No electronics.  Getting exersize is rarely a problem with my active bunch. It seems that they are constantly in motion. Just ask the people who sit behind us at church! But the call of those electronic devices is strong so I have to be pretty strict about when they are aloud to use them.

Final Block of the Day ~ 4:15ish ~ Tea Time with Literature and Poetry
This is one of the favorite times of our day. Since Night Owl needs to be picked up from school the time varies but he joins us for Tea Time whenever he is home for it. I'm the only one who actually likes tea. The kids just mostly have a snack. But they all enjoy hearing poetry and reciting the poems that they are each learning. Then I read to them, once again, from some sort of literature. This is just for fun reading and there is no narration, journaling, sketching or assignments required. Those things often just happen naturally though. They enjoy telling Dad about what's going on in the books we are reading. These narrations are often more detailed than the ones they are assigned to do. Sometimes there are pictures to go along with it. This is the sort of narration I like best; the kind that comes from enthusiasm on the part of the student.

Finally we come to the end of our structured day. The kids do their afternoon chores and, if there is school work that didn't get done they do it after Tea Time.   The rest of the hours of the day are free for them.

That seems like a long day on paper, but in reality it's not bad at all. There are some days when extra curricular activites change the schedule, but that is usually on Fridays when we have a lighter academic day so it works out fine.

Night Owl had a two hour delay today so the kids have one here too. I've enjoyed the extra time to post to the blog since I don't seem to find the time for that much. My two hours are almost up though, so time to get back to it!

.....................Fat Tuesday for the birds?

2010-02-17T08:23:00.001-05:00

The woods behind our house are just alive with birds this morning. We have the "usual gang" at the feeder - finches, chickadees, junkos, tufted titmice, sparrows, and more.

BUT, we've also been watching birds in the the trees and there are so many varieties! Cardinals are on of my favorites, but check out this beauty:

I think she must be a female cardinal but she's gorgeous!

There are also quite a few Cedar Waxwings which we rarely see,

and ... are you ready? Robins!

There are also the woodpeckers, which we see frequently. But today there are quite a few! Red Bellied, Hairy, Downy, there all there.

It's like a Bird party. I'm reminded of the Dr. Seuss book, Go Dog Go, where all the dogs are going to the dog party. Maybe we'll write a new story, Fly Bird Fly!

Science Olympiad

2010-02-13T07:53:00.000-05:00

We're praying for Night Owl today. He left at 5:30 this morning for the Science Olympiad Semi-Finals. He is involved in 5 competitions:

Trajectory
Ornithology
Fossils
Volcanos
and something called Write It, Do It

He was up late last night finishing the graphs and other information that need to be on display regarding the catapult he and a friend made for "Trajectory". I know he'll be tired today, but it will be an exciting day so he probably wont notice til tomorrow morning!

Snow Day

2010-02-10T10:49:00.000-05:00

I still have pictures on my camera from the last big snow. I could just post them, since, well, snow is snow right? This morning I'm not so sure though. The snow that falls in December is different from the snow in February. Or maybe it's just my attitude about it!

In December the flakes were big. They fell softly to the ground. There was a quiet peace about it. The snow that started yesterday was a bit more "angry". Not the large gentle flakes that land on your mittens and invite careful observation with a magnifying glass. Yesterday and last night, the snowflakes that fell from the sky came at a sideways angle and they were very tiny. It almost looked like mist as it fell.

It was the type of snow that made me worry about going to pick up Night Owl from school and how Dad would fair driving home from work. This morning, the tree branches are heavy with it, just like they are in December, but it's also a "sticky snow" that covers the sides of the trees (revealing the angle from which it fell). The wind blows still and the "mist of snow" falls from the roof tops. Unlike December snow, it's the type of snow that doesn't invite us to come out and play. It's more of a "lets hunker down and have a reading day inside" snow day.

That's my plan anyway. We'll read from our current history selection, Madeline Takes Command, do some crafts in preparation for tomorrow's feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes, make hot co-co, and play some board games. Sounds like a great snow day to me! Maybe I'll have time to get that school room cleaned up! This time of year it really needs a good cleaning. Snow days are perfect for that sort of thing!
Of course, it looks like my kids disagree!

Happy Snow Day!

A great quote!

2010-02-02T13:37:00.000-05:00

I just love this. I could see any one of my children lying in bed thinking the same thoughts!

"Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a coloured pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."--G.K. Chesterton

Homeschooling Is a Prayer

2010-01-26T07:23:00.000-05:00

This is so nice:

http://totustuusfamily.blogspot.com/2010/01/homeschooling-can-be-prayer.html

I need to post this on my fridge so I remember, in all things, to pray.

March For Life

2010-01-23T10:18:00.001-05:00

I am so proud of Night Owl who was at the March For Life in Washington DC yesterday. He'll be traveling home by bus tonight. Please pray for a peaceful trip for all who traveled to be a voice for the unborn.

Cheese!!

2010-01-23T08:23:00.002-05:00

Guess what we made yesterday?! Mozzerella Cheese! It was fun! A friend came over and taught Social Butterfly and I how to do it. I was surprised at how easy it was, and it only took about an hour. My friend gets all her supplies from cheesemaking.com . I should have taken a picture, but I forgot, and now the cheese is about gone. We ate some of it just plain, and the rest went on top of baked ziti which we had for dinner. Yum! This is definitely something we could get used to!

"Prayer Chair" and other peaceful changes for 2010

2010-01-14T10:49:00.000-05:00

Here it is. The famed "prayer chair". Not much to look at is it?

Not that comfortable either. But, every day, three times a day, the peacefulness of this household was torn asunder by 4 children yelling "Prayer Chair!" as they raced to the sunroom. (Well, actually three were yelling, the fourth was just running along with the others, babbling whatever, delighted to be part of this fun game!) Let me tell you, nothing kills the serenity of family prayer time like a "knock 'em down, drag 'em out" over who gets to sit in this chair. It sort of reminds me of the days when my brothers and I would all go running to the car yelling "Shot Gun!" in hopes of being the one to get the front seat. So, I finally came to my senses and created, can you guess?... a schedule for the prayer chair. So now, on Monday and Thursday, Social Butterfly gets the chair.
On Tuesday and Friday, Jetter gets the chair,

and on Wednesday and Saturday, Builder gets the chair. (Beany enjoys sharing the chair with whomever happens to be sitting in it.)

Along with the priveledge of the chair comes responsibility too. He who sits in the chair is also responsible for the dog that day, and the lunch boxes. So, on Mondays, Social Butterfly puts the dog out and feeds her and, after lunch, she collects the lunch boxes and returns them to the cupboard. On Tuesday, Jetter does the same, and so on.

Which brings me to another change for the new year that has brought some peace. Lunchboxes! Night Owl goes to highschool and takes a sack lunch every day. My other children have been very jealous of this because taking the sack lunch means some sort of treat (usually a power bar since Night Owl is all about beefing up for football these days.) Anyway, in response to their whining about Night Owl getting something better I said, "O.K., if you want a treat every day at lunch, you have to do what Night Owl does which is basically eat the same thing every day for lunch - a sandwich, chips, and the treat. Which, I might add seems so boring compared to the hot lunches you kids usually get. Night Owl would love macaroni and cheese for lunch, or leftover barbecued chicken, or hamburgers!" I was trying to convince them that they really had the better deal, but no, they still wanted that "treat" at all cost. So, I rummaged around and found four lunch boxes, all of them from Night Owl's early years in grade school, all of them with his name written on them somewhere. They each picked the one they liked and now each of the kids has a lunch box. So, every morning, when I make Night Owl's lunch, I make a lunch for the other 4 as well. I have to admit, while I was resistant at first, this has made our afternoon lunch time so much more peaceful! Instead of the kids running off to play while I cook something, then coming back to eat while I clean up the mess from the cooking, they just grab their bags, sit at the table and eat, and I read to them! It's a beautiful thing. AND, there's very little clean up. The "prayer chair person" collects all the empty bags and puts them in the cupboard and everybody is responsible to throw away their own trash. Wow, why did I resist this for so long?!

The third peace bringing change has been the restoration of our afternoon prayer time, and with that, quiet time. This has always been just a normal part of our day until this year. For some reason (probably several) I just couldn't make it work. I finally decided this was a matter of the will, not the circumstances. So, I told the kids that everyday, after their after-lunch time to play (we don't call it recess, but that's what it is) we will come back to the sunroom and pray. Period. So, we did! Once again, it's a beautiful thing. After our prayer is the perfect time to send them off to seperate rooms for some quiet time. The point of quiet time is that they read, or catch up on school work that they didn't finish that morning. I have to admit, I think Jetter spends most of his time drawing and Social Butterfly will often organize something in her room. But it's apparent that this is good anyway because the kids are so much more kind to each other when they return. It's like morning when they are actually happy to be in each other's company. It's good for me too. I would like to say I get all sorts of reading done at this time, but since Beany is resisiting his naps, I usually spend the time with him. This is a great time, when the rest of the house is quiet, to read to Beany, which he loves. We also work on his speech a little, but very little. When he turns 3, if he's still not talking we will get more intensive with that.

Number 4 is "No Work No Eat". Doesn't that sound mean? Don't worry, my kids aren't in danger of starving and they never go without a meal. The reason for starting this is that they were all becoming a bit sluggish about helping around here, or even picking up after themselves. When four kids are home all day, eating, playing, learning, etc., a house can get really messy really fast if no one but Mom is cleaning. So, I simply started saying things like "when you're beds are made and bedrooms tidied, you may have breakfast", and, "when you've all finished your afternoon chores we will have our tea time snack". Works like a charm! I suppose I should prepare myself for the child that says "I don't want a snack" because I'm sure it will come. I think though, that waiting from lunch all the way until dinner without a snack will be more difficult than they think. I'm guessing, after having to wait one time, they will probably do their chores readily the next time.

Number 5 was nothing I did on my own, but it's been an unexpected blessing. First I should give some background... Our relationship with the TV has been a love-hate thing for a long time. My husband and I enjoy sitting down, after the kids are asleep to watch a show together, or, in the fall, a Steelers football game. But during the day that black box continues to yell to my kids "come watch me"! All day, I hear things like "I'm done with my Math can I take a break and watch ___ (insert name of some silly show). Or, when I really think they should be playing outside in the afternoon when school is over I hear "But Mom, Cyber Chase is on" (or some other show). It drives me crazy. I have to be very stern with my "no" or I am badgered endlessly. Worse is when I allow them to watch what looks like an okay show and then some commercial pops up enticing them to buy some sort of toy that they don't need or we can't afford. Then they start feeling sorry for themselves because they have "no toys". Oh Puh-leasssssse! So, I've been praying about this. It seemed kind of extreme to get rid of the TV completely. There are good things on and on snowy mornings, it's the quickest way to find out about school closings. I could just say "no TV" and that's that ... but I'm weak. Well, God answered our prayer and the Cable Company did the work. All of a sudden we only get a few channels. The only channels for the kids at all are PBS channels! Wow, life is okay without Dora! The kids don't even turn it on now, except for the hours just before dinner when it's dark outside. And that's okay!

So 5 things that really didn't take all that much effort and we have so much more peace in our day. I'm always about "big plans" and "huge projects" that I never get to. These are just minor changes that have made some major differences around here. I am truly thankful!

Sigh

2010-01-12T09:19:00.000-05:00

`So, what do you do when God has blessed you with four brothers and no sisters? Dress up the littlest one, of course ... That is, until big brother comes to rescue him!

Reading for the New Year

2010-01-07T09:05:00.000-05:00

As usual, some of the gifts under the Christmas tree were books this year. Even Beany has enjoyed lift the flap books and being read to by Social Butterfly. I thought I'd write a post about what we're reading and our thoughts about the books.

As I said, Beany is enjoying his "lift the flap books". Jetter was always very interested in these at this age too. Beany is also quite content to sit in my lap, or that of his older sister's, and listen to book after book though. He reminds me of Night Owl in that regard.
Beany also received a pretty nifty gift for Christmas that involves "reading". We got it for him because he is slow to talk and we're hoping to enrich his environment with more language resources. Of course, all you have to do is visit for a day and you'll think this is ridiculous since there is talking going on here all the time! But anyway, this is his special "talking toy" and he really enjoys using it. It's made by Leap Frog and it's called a Tag Junior. In the picture above you can see the little device he uses. I just sync this device on line with any new Tag Junior Books he receives and the little "guy" as we call it reads the book to Beany. If he puts it on a picture instead of the words of the story, it will tell him about the picture or make the sound of that animal or character. To go with it, we also got him the Leap Frog letter factory DVD. He enjoys watching it and tries to say the names of the letters, which is the whole point.

Builder received books about Castles and a couple of Magic Schoolbus Books. He enjoys looking at the pictures and being read to. He is doing a great job at learning to read, and in fact is a bit ahead of schedule, but his interests aren't usually covered in the "easy reader" books we have. It wont be long and he'll be reading these Magic Schoolbus books though.

Jetter is coming along with his reading as well. He's now into the easy chapter books. For Christmas, we got him a set of the Magic Treehouse Books. He's currently enjoying the first one, "Dinosaurs Before Dark". After that he will read "The Knight at Dawn", "Pirates Past Noon", and "Night of the Ninjas". All of these titles are quite "Jetter appealing" so he is encouraged to keep reading!

Social Butterfly has decided that her new favorite genre is mystery. She received an Encyclopedia Brown book, which she finished Christmas day. She also was given the first two Nancy Drew books, "The Secret of the Old Clock", and "The Hidden Staircase". She really enjoys the Nancy Drew books and informs me she'll need to go to the library soon to get some more.

While I don't have a recent picture of him reading, Night Owl is seldom without a book. His homework keeps him from reading as much as he would like, but he manages to read quite a bit anyway. He's currently working through all the books written my Louis LaMour. He and my husband both enjoy these as "easy reads" and they both received a couple for Christmas. I carry a list in my purse of the many books written by this author and as they finish one they cross it off. That way, when it's time to get them a gift, or if I'm at the library, I know which ones they've already read. Night Owl also enjoys books by Zane Grey and anything history related, especially regarding World War II.

My husband and I don't have as much time to read as the kids do, but we squeeze it in whenever we have a few minutes of quiet. As I mentioned, he and Night Owl always have a Louis LaMour book they are reading. But he is also currently reading "The Complete Fr. Brown" by G.K, Chesterton and a couple of books put out by the Arbringer Institute. He is reading the Arbringer Institute books for work and is finding them quite interesting. He's added one to my book basket to read as well. Which brings me to ....

My very over crowded basket of books. As I mentioned, my reading comes in the little snippets of time when all is quiet. This is usually in the early morning, while the kids still sleep. I also find time to read during our afternoon quiet time. This is when the kids all go to their rooms with a book or two and read quietly for 30 minutes. I don't always get much reading done at this time since Beany seems to be growing out of his naps already, but every now and then I do. I also like to read in the evenings when the kids go to bed. But, here again, my reading is often set aside for things like laundry folding or watching a football game on TV with my husband. (After 20 years of marriage I've finally learned to like watching football on TV - but only if it is a "favorite" team like the Steelers!) So, what's in the basket?

As I unpack my books, it seems that each one fits into one of my "life categories". Some years ago I read Holly Peirlot's "A Mother's Rule of Life". The information in this book has stayed with me and become part of my life. The thing that I really took home from the book is the idea of organizing your life by your priorities. She calls them the 5P's and claims we all have them. They are Prayer, Person, Partner, Parent, Provider. When everything seems to be falling apart around here, I take a look at my priorities and get things back in order. It really does work. The books I am reading often overlap in different priority categories, but I'll divide them this way for order's sake.

P1 - Prayer - In this category, I am currently reading The Saints and Our Children by Mary Reed Newland. I actually started reading the book just to skim it before reading it to the kids, but I'm finding the information to be so helpful to me personally. I am also reading Splendor in the Ordinary by Thomas Howard. I haven't been able to truly get into this book but I think it requires more time to ponder than I am allowing.

P2 - Person - Actually, all this reading is good for my person since I find it enjoyable. Much of it is educational for me. I know that getting out to take a good walk would also be good for my person and that's something I am working on. But, the book I would put in this category is Mrs. Sharp's Traditions by Sarah Breathnachs. For me, this book is just fun. The pictures are lovely, and I enjoy reading about traditions of the Victorian Period.

P3 - Partner - Under this category, I would put The Anatomy of Peace, by the Arbinger Institute. This is a book that my husband and the people he works with are reading. He thought it to be quite interesting so he has asked my to read it. It makes great food for conversation.

P4 - Parent - It seems that my book basket always has some sort of homeschool book in it! This is a subject that is of extreme importance around here since much of my day is consumed with the education of our children. In the past, I would have put books in this category that dealt with ADHD and learning disabilities as well, but for now I just have one. Educating the Whole Hearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson is a book that I read 8 years ago when we first started homeschooling. I had borrowed it from a friend, but at that time I was so overwhelmed with reading materials about this new adventure that I just skimmed it. Now, I have my own copy, bought used for just a couple of dollars, and I'm able to actually read it and incorporate some of the ideas of the authors. I'm finding it inspiring as we head back into school after a nice Christmas break!

P5 - Provider - The "Provider" category covers all those things I do for my family. If I worked outside the home, it would include my job and my financial contribution to the family. Because I am a stay-at-home-mom, this category includes all the things that go with keeping a home and raising children. One of the books I am currently reading is Graced and Gifted by Kimberly Hahn. Since this book also incorporates scripture, I could have put it up in the P1 category. But since the book's focus is the "homemaker's heart" I will put it here. I've only just started this book so I don't have much to say here, but I think I'm really going to enjoy it. I find the books that I read by Kimberly Hahn or her husband Scott Hahn are packed with truth and inspiration.

Also in the P5 category, I am reading Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. This book was recommended to me by a friend and I'm really enjoying it. The UPS man just brought it yesterday, so once again I'm not far into it, but what I've read so far is intriguing. It seems that so much of the "Provider" part of my life is about food! With Beany not able to eat gluten and our decision to keep things like high fructose corn syrup as far from our kid's diets as possible, putting meals on the table really takes alot of thought and energy. I don't mind because I find it all interesting and cooking is something I've always enjoyed. This actually brings me to another post I am planning about my drive for simplicity. So much of life is hectic and I have such a desire to let go of some of the "stuff" and get back to more of the basics. I'm not going to give up electricity and go live in a log cabin in the woods (although that sounds like a nice vacation to me!). But there is alot about what we eat and how it's prepared that has actually made our life more stressful. More about that in another post though!

I'd like to say I'm off to read a good book, but there are breakfast dishes to wash and children who need to start their school work!

Wow, am I behind!

2010-01-01T14:49:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We've been busy, busy busy. I've had no time to even update the blog. Updates are coming soon though!

Advent

2009-12-23T08:49:00.000-05:00

Mary and Joseph stopped for a night in the wreath. For these last few days of their journey, they will travel across the mantel, finally to arrive at the stable where the animals are quietly waiting.

Their journey was so different than ours. Our "journey of Advent" is much more hustle and bustle, hurry and scurry. It is a stressful time for me, rather than a time of peace. I have my checklist, my wishlists, my schedules ...

It's not all bad. Actually, some of this hurry and scurry is quite fun for me. I love shopping for my children! It brings joy to my heart to know how excited they will be on Christmas morning. I love the baking and chocolate making; the gifts we will give to others. I love the lesson that this teaches the children; that we need to look outside of what we want and bring joy to others.

So, each year, I attempt to get everything done in time to have some quiet. Some time of peace before the great feast of Christmas. My list is almost completely checked:

The tree is decorated~

The stockings are hung~

The gifts are wrapped and hiding in various places around the house~

The menu written and groceries purchased~

The candy is made and delivered to friends~

The snow has fallen~

and now we wait ...

Well, at least we'll wait after I get the laundry done, Christmas clothes ironed, goose defrosted, kitchen floor mopped, house cleaned, I need to get to the grocery for that decaf coffee and ice cream I forgot ...

Sigh...

Who Needs Television?

2009-12-16T15:21:00.000-05:00